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question What’s considered infringement?

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There are many "io games" that don't own the corresponding domain.
Did you notice increased traffic to your domain because of this game?
I'm not sure if I would worry about it much. You probably don't have any leverage unless you registered a TM for this name.
 
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Seems pretty blatantly obvious. You could reach out to them and tell them you own the domain and ask them to take it down?
 
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@pb

If I own domain.com and someone starts a business called domain.com, there's nothing you can do from a legal standpoint without a tm?
 
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@pb

If I own domain.com and someone starts a business called domain.com, there's nothing you can do from a legal standpoint without a tm?
Exactly my thoughts
 
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If I own domain.com and someone starts a business called domain.com, there's nothing you can do from a legal standpoint without a tm?

Well can you? I don't know, I am not a lawyer. You have a line of defense in case they want to hijack your domain but can you prevent them from using this name just because you own a domain? I wouldn't be so sure. [side note, I actually encountered a few companies named something.net where they didn't own the corresponding domain. I don't recall .com examples though]

Here the case is even lighter, it's not a business name, just a silly game. I own IdleVillage.com, can I prevent someone from naming their game IdleVillage.com? On what grounds? Again, I'm asking, not stating.

[edit] Another example, I own many .pl domains - there are many perl scripts named similarly to my domains - should I go after them? ;)

[edit2] ok, there's a 30-year-old company named TRADER.COM who never owned this domain.
 
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Your domain isn't developed so there's not a lot that they have infringed upon. No established trade, no goodwill, no recognition by anybody other than the few that may recognise it as a domain name. I don't think you could do anything about it.

Also the point about having a website called something.xyz, for instance, and someone going around using it, you'd have to have to have a presence of some kind to protect it. Established trade, people knowing you by a certain name PLUS reason to believe it would confuse consumers for your goods and services specifically.
 
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Also the point about having a website called something.xyz, for instance, and someone going around using it, you'd have to have to have a presence of some kind to protect it. Established trade, people knowing you by a certain name PLUS reason to believe it would confuse consumers for your goods and services specifically.
There are a lot of online games that use the .io extension so wouldn't that be grounds for consumer confusion especially if you're trade is selling .io domain names...or would that not be a strong enough stand alone argument?
 
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There are a lot of online games that use the .io extension so wouldn't that be grounds for consumer confusion especially if you're trade is selling .io domain names...or would that not be a strong enough stand alone argument?
I sincerely doubt it
 
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wonder if there has been any cases that have been filed where the domain has been taken when someone used part of the sub directory (right of the domain) as it was found to be confusingly similar or used in bad faith...Is it even possible to file a UDRP? Pretty sure you can't do it with sub domains (left of the domain) - If not, then you would have to take separate legal action to request they remove the page?

Or learn to live with it......
 
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Let's start off with the raw facts. Infringement requires someone to use a whole or substantial part of your work without permission. A trademark cannot branch a singular word under infinite protection and works in a system of classes.

Is a law being broken? Most likely not. The website you are talking about does not replicate any of your work, and simply uses a common noun along with a fairly common suffix (typically associated with such games after the trend set by agar.io). To have a case, you would need to prove that the individual may be harming your business interest.

My advice is to contact the owner and ask politely. I doubt it will affect your domain much at all, but I certainly understand why it may be frustrating to some degree.

*Notice: I am not a legal professional. Don't take what I said as fact as it is all solely an opinion-based discussion.
 
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I doubt it will affect your domain much at all
As someone with popular websites this happens all the time... People using the exact name as an app name, having entire pages that are dedicated to "reviewing" your content. The reality is that if the op created something worth visiting on his domain that this particular issue would fade into insignificance. One can't expect to be the only thing that comes up on Google for their respective name/domain. Having the domain is security enough generally in this case.
 
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As someone with popular websites this happens all the time... People using the exact name as an app name, having entire pages that are dedicated to "reviewing" your content. The reality is that if the op created something worth visiting on his domain that this particular issue would fade into insignificance. One can't expect to be the only thing that comes up on Google for their respective name/domain. Having the domain is security enough generally in this case.

My reply was directed purely at the OP and a per-case review. I'm sure that it is possible for it to cause issues, even if they're not necessarily direct. From what I understood of the original post, the author was simply asking whether the website infringes on the domain which it does not as there is no business surrounding the domain, and therefore there is nothing that the website even has the potential of infringing.
 
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Your domain isn't developed so there's not a lot that they have infringed upon. No established trade, no goodwill, no recognition by anybody other than the few that may recognise it as a domain name. I don't think you could do anything about it.

Also the point about having a website called something.xyz, for instance, and someone going around using it, you'd have to have to have a presence of some kind to protect it. Established trade, people knowing you by a certain name PLUS reason to believe it would confuse consumers for your goods and services specifically.
Imagine if you own one of few 1 letter .com like x.com. Can I promote my online game as x.com? No fucking way!
 
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Imagine if you own one of few 1 letter .com like x.com. Can I promote my online game as x.com? No fucking way!
I would argue to the contrary...

If they have a trademark on it and trade with it then they are afforded protection for their mark in the territories that they trade in for their goods and services. The protection can be pretty broad, but not so that you can't call yourself x.com sausages and run x.comsausages.com to sell sausages.

Unfortunately the big issue right now I believe is that you haven't used the name and that's the biggest source of vulnerability. If you sort that then you'll be golden, it's not too late.
 
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I would argue to the contrary...

If they have a trademark on it and trade with it then they are afforded protection for their mark in the territories that they trade in for their goods and services. The protection can be pretty broad, but not so that you can't call yourself x.com sausages and run x.comsausages.com to sell sausages.

Unfortunately the big issue right now I believe is that you haven't used the name and that's the biggest source of vulnerability. If you sort that then you'll be golden, it's not too late.
Can you see how it could hinder or hurt the value of the domain holder?

By your logic, I can use any unused .com to promote my brand. Maybe buy.com isn’t currently used. So as you say, I can develop a game called buy.com.

Do you understand how dangerous and wrong that is?!
 
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Imagine if you own one of few 1 letter .com like x.com. Can I promote my online game as x.com? No fucking way!

*cough* XCOM *cough*
 
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Can you see how it could hinder or hurt the value of the domain holder?

By your logic, I can use any unused .com to promote my brand. Maybe buy.com isn’t currently used, so as you say, I can develop a game called buy.com.

Do you understand how dangerous and wrong that is?!
It's not unheard of for entities to register "something.com" as a trademark to protect it and hold it to ransom before they or anyone else owns it. So someone using a name just cause it could be a domain name or the other way around is acceptable and comes down to how the names is used for trade. That is where the protection is derived from, the trade.

One interesting example could be Booking.com that are parading around as the brand "booking.yeah" at the moment. The difference being that that domain doesn't even exist yet, it could be confused as one and it may well exist one day. However they are similar in that they have a trademark for "booking.yeah" for hotels - but someone else may want to use the name "booking.yeah" for a book shop or something else - but should that situation arise, should booking.com be stripped of their goodwill in the phrase "booking.yeah" so that the bookshop owner can use the domain when they snag it, or is it more realistic to assume that both the bookshop and the hotel booking website can coexist? I would plump for coexistence.

Things aren't cut and dry, there are many nuances and the system is designed to allow companies with the same name to coexist, so I'm not sure that a domain ame gets special dispensation just cause it COULD be a domain name. One can't be afforded protection until they trade under a name, but once they do then I would argue that their protection extends only to what they trade (and similar goods/services in the territory in which they trade).

That's my take anyway imho.
 
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I’d like intelligent responses please. @pb not sure what you’re trying to say…
I'm pointing out that there already is a game named XCOM. Not need to be rude.
 
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It's not unheard of for entities to register "something.com" as a trademark to protect it and hold it to ransom before they or anyone else owns it. So someone using a name just cause it could be a domain name or the other way around is acceptable and comes down to how the names is used for trade. That is where the protection is derived from, the trade.

One interesting example could be Booking.com that are parading around as the brand "booking.yeah" at the moment. The difference being that that domain doesn't even exist yet, it could be confused as one and it may well exist one day. However they are similar in that they have a trademark for "booking.yeah" for hotels - but someone else may want to use the name "booking.yeah" for a book shop or something else - but should that situation arise, should booking.com be stripped of their goodwill in the phrase "booking.yeah" so that the bookshop owner can use the domain when they snag it, or is it more realistic to assume that both the bookshop and the hotel booking website can coexist? I would plump for coexistence.

Things aren't cut and dry, there are many nuances and the system is designed to allow companies with the same name to coexist, so I'm not sure that a domain ame gets special dispensation just cause it COULD be a domain name. One can't be afforded protection until they trade under a name, but once they do then I would argue that their protection extends only to what they trade (and similar goods/services in the territory in which they trade).

That's my take anyway imho.
Thank you for the thought out response.

Booking.yeah is a gimmick, not a real asset.

I’m asking about real assets. Big difference…
 
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Thank you for the thought out response.

Booking.yeah is a gimmick, not a real asset.

I’m asking about real assets. Big difference…
No worries. I don't think they would see it that way, they are hinging their brand on that name at the moment. It is by definition intellectual property - a valuable asset.
 
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What is even more interesting is that if you dropped your domain, I would think that the owner of that app probably has more chance from a legal standpoint of getting it than anyone else... even you. They have a product with the name and you don't. I don't think there are any prizes or protections for just having owned a domain before, I might be wrong on that one though.

I'll stop opining now and let someone else have a go 😁
 
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I would like to know how to prevent anyone from creating products or services based on my names without trademark, because when trademarking you need to use it and build the products.
And to have the com is not enough they will find alternates to reg, I see many products developed but they not own the COM domain and it's still for sale.
Someone shared recently if not wrong some augmented-human,com dashed domain, they took the dash because the non dashed is expensive, that is what I mean, to prevent them from using just the names no matter of TLD or dash, it would be great protection.
Why I say this, this is because most websites have copy navy/silver colors from my tech website, recently I added rounded corners to all parts of my website header, container and footer, I see now on some top one word domains how they did same round corners, but the thing they are missing are the domains which is the 3rd missing piece that they not own, I want to make in such a way that before they found out the names which are currently to them junk, I want to make them pay me to be allowed to use in their *** of products my names, lazy grabbers they are.
 
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As long as you are not using baby io as a brand or trademarked it, you can't report them or ask them to change their name.
But, as long as you are not running a game site on your domain, you are not infringing as well.
Just never mention anything about Game or develop anything related to game on that domain.

Baby io , is something related to babies and not games. So I don't think they can claim infringement on your domain anyway.

If you would like to be safer, how about building a dummy babies related site on it while you put the domain for sale? And, I believe you got the name first before they started the game.
 
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