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question What is the limit of having misspelled domains

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dantex45

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Hello! Not so long ago I saw a person who commented in this forum as he saw that a domain called something like "getfreebitcoin.pro" had a lot of traffic and he bought a domain called "getfreebitcoins.pro" taking advantage of the fact that many people would get confused and write the "S" to the Ending up being that it didn't match, which he was able to get a lot of traffic to his domain just based on that.

My question is, in which case the owner of the original domain could take any action against you? For example, if you buy a domain that was called "youtuve" with "V", to take advantage of youtube traffic, even though you are not referencing it in any direct way, can you get someone in trouble? If so, is it because the sites have a trademark or would it be some kind of domain occupation?
 
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This is not a definitive answer but it tends to come down to a couple of saliant points.

Is there a registered trade mark for the domain. If it's a general descriptive term it's almost impossible to register for that use. So is there a TM in place ? trying to use something similar to a TM to financially benefit from that mark is an absolute No no

How common is the term. If it is used exclusively by one Company, What is the global reach can also be a point of consideration.

If you know your trying to piggy-back somebody else's work/business then don't - It really is as simple as that. The bigger the Company the harder they will bite on you. Though even small fish can bite just as hard.

Anyway you seem to have already answered that your MOTIVE is just wrong in the first place. Learn about trademarks and infringement before you start registering domains. Otherwise stay ignorant and suffer the consequences is my message.

Your bitcoin domain quoted is a general descriptive - so not possible to trademark. In general terms Not protected. Your Youtuve example is infringing on a unique (and trademarked) identity/business. You would be shark bait. the fact that your trying to benefit from typo (keyboard layout VB) is a killer blow for whatever use
 
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an error to correct

I should add bitcoin is already a Trademark but they choose not to defend or restrict its usage - the last thing they would want to see is the wording being curtailed. So adding Free to that unrestricted word couldn't be tm'd anyway.

To try to draw some sort of an analogy here suppose youtube hadn't trademarked their name. And any other streaming service had started to use the word 'Tube' as a descriptive of streaming - It would have now gained a general recognition. Nobody would have been able to lay claim to it as unique. Hope that clarifies
 
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