question Would this be cybersquatting?

[MattxF]

Hi. I need some advice from domain experts please.

Let's say there is a company called Abcd and they have a site Abcd dot-com. If I were to register the same Abcd name on another gTLD, such as .guide or .info for example, and operate a site reviewing Abcd products, would this be considered cybersquatting and I risk losing the domain and project is wasted simply because I am using the same Abcd name in a domain name?

Thanks.

 

[Wesley S]

no its worse, like trademark issues and using brand name in bad faith. I wouldnt, unless you dont sell the items and you only blog about the great company they are, no way.

 

[MattxF]

no its worse, like trademark issues and using brand name in bad faith. I wouldnt, unless you dont sell the items and you only blog about the great company they are, no way.

Thanks for response. Good thing I asked. So it seems I need to come up with my own brand name for a review site. I'm not going to sell the items but will have affiliate links. I was hoping I could create some sites with descriptive TLD's like info, guide, review, etc.

 

[Wesley S]

Thanks for response. Good thing I asked. So it seems I need to come up with my own brand name for a review site. I'm not going to sell the items but will have affiliate links. I was hoping I could create some sites with descriptive TLD's like info, guide, review, etc.

that might work, but why skirt it, you might fall in, you know.

 

[7363824]

You could try say term that's general and descriptive of the products you are reviewing. So if Abcd is in the business of selling widgets you could get widgets.guide or .review, and since its a general term it'll work and it'll open you up to be able to review competing products too.

 

[infosec3]

In my non-lawyer opinion, yes, it would be cybersquatting, unless you get their permission to run a review site.

 

[BaileyUK]

It's dangerous ground if your using the exact name. Even with 'Disclaimers' It's going to be easily argued by the Official business that you are "Creating Confusion" there's a reason loads of established and famous business names remain unregistered in the thousand extensions that now exist - nobody with any sense will touch them

Your Motives are also likely to be added into the mix. Your obviously trying to gain an advantage (financial or other) from their business name, even if it's with just links. And that's an absolute No-No

Your also basically trying to build based on their 'Customers Goodwill and Brand recognition' and that will be seen for exactly what it is.

Stay clear,

 

[MattxF]

Understood, thanks everyone for the help!

 

[JD Bloodstone]

If the term/phrase "abcd" is trademarked, copyrighted, or otherwise protected by abcd, and can prove it, then they will be entitled to your domain use unless you can prove you used it earlier or before they did, which is usually impossible to do. What they'll get you on is "brand dilution" and "brand confusion". I think you'd be better off creating a subdomain for "abcd" within another domain that is/becomes your brand and/or create a blog with a category for "abcd" so it shows up in the URL of every blog post. With savvy SEO you can sometimes beat TLDs. I guess what I'm try to say is not to risk it. There's better ways to get the traffic you want.