Should You Get a Domain Name With a Trademark In It?
To point out that lawyers are working for their clients, not you. Please remember that.
Just because you can set up a website and try to make money, doesn’t mean the trademarked name is yours to use. In fact, North American law has a ‘protect it or else’ view of trademarks, where even a benevolent company HAS to stop you from using it.
For an example of that, note the very civil response of WordPress.org and what they say about using ‘WordPress’ in a domain name:
For various reasons related to our WordPress trademark, we ask if you’re going to start a site about WordPress or related to it that you not use “WordPress” in the domain name. We’re not lawyers, but very good ones tell us we have to do this to preserve our trademark.
So every site you see with ‘WordPress’ in the domain will eventually be looked at – unless it’s very, very small – and they will HAVE to do something to protect their trademark.
(Which by the way is why this site is called ‘ActiveBlogging.com’ and not ‘MakeHeapsOfMoneyWithWordPress.com’ or something similar).
On the other hand, it is a perfectly legitimate (although not well-liked) tactic to wait until the other person has something of value, THEN attack. Lawyers look for the money in lawsuits, and the perfect time is when there’s a lot on the line – like a thriving site with a valuable domain name that can be taken away legally.
So go ahead and put WordPress or eBay or Google or whatever in a domain name and set it up – because when you lose it (not if), all the sweat and toil that went into that domain will be someone else’s!
Or, come up with something new and unique, and start your own brand – and then someday you can have lawyers protecting you, and then they won’t all have to be at the bottom of the ocean…
Dave, I think I am qualified to comment on this one because I am a lawyer!
The point is that we are paid to protect our client’s interests and if that means enforcing their legal rights so be it. You would probably be surprised at how many times these rights are not enforced because the client takes a commercial/economic approach. However, there are some big name corporates that will enforce no matter how minor.
Remember, we don’t make the law (if only!) and we cannot (unfortunately) tell our clients want to do – we can only advise our client of its rights within the law and how to protect those rights and enforce their rights if they have been infringed.
Taking someone elses brand is against the law for a pretty simple reason – a brand/domain etc has goodwill attached to it just like any worthwhile business. When you use that name or part of it without consent you are stealing business from someone who has spent time building that name. Not only that, it can appear to the average visitor that the content is endorsed by the brand name – which may be the wrong impression that the brand wants to project.
There are lots more reasons but these are the main ones. The best thing to do rather than cybersquatting on someone elses hard work is to create something yourself.
Leanne
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