question Why are so many Generic Term domains (golf.ca, dentist.ca, etc...) are NOT active? Is it because they CAN'T be Trademarked for business?

[scotch]

Hi!
Domain/trademark experts I would love to hear your opinion.

I have noticed a trends that many generic term domains, such as
automechanic.ca, dentist.ca, tattoo.ca, mortgage.ca, golf.ca, and loans.ca, to name a few, are TAKEN but are not active on any websites for decades.

From what I understood, Generic Term domains CANNOT be trademarked, companies buy them at most they either Park them or forward them to original Branded websites. For example, I know that Shoes.com is Owned by DSW Group shoe company.


Are there any other reasons why short but Generic term domains are so highly sought after but are NOT actually used in business at all?

 

[Kai W.]

Not all companies buy them to rebrand. Companies with world-class brands usually already have a good market share and a very strong PR team behind the scenes, and they buy these names more from a brand protection point of view to prevent them from being exploited by competitors. Often rebranding requires a great deal of prerequisite work to prevent the new brand from being caught in a title dispute.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

From what I understood, Generic Term domains CANNOT be trademarked

Course they can. Say I'm going to open a towel manufacturer called Dentist towels, or a company creating Tattoo branded Drinks.

Viola - trademarkable....

 

[Surya Giri Kurniawan]

Some companies bought domains for protection, and future projects. If you are following Robbie's blog, he often posts about Domains owned by Famous Companies. They own alot of domains, some are for protection, some are redirected to main site, some for future projects they do not spend time and money yet. But they already have the interest.