Domain Names and Trademark Law

A site call like pepsi or nike that do not have a commonplace term in them frequently qualifies for trademark safety. What this indicates is that, if someone used a pepsi or nike of their area name with out securing permission from the proprietors of these trademarks, then it'd represent a trademark infringement. But, if a website name consists of famous terms, as an instance; foodsupplies.Com or commonenglishterms.Com, the proprietors of those domains do no longer qualify for domain name emblems and cannot stop others from the usage of phrases like meals, components, commonplace, etc., in their area name.

Trademark law conflicts

There are a few basic principles to keep in mind when you consider your domain name from a legal standpoint.

•    Any names that directly reference services or products on the market are trademarks.

•    State and federal laws protect trademarks that are memorable and distinctive.

•    The commercial user that uses a trademark first is considered the owner in legal disputes with future users.

•    One trademark is considered to be in legal conflict with another if using both would likely cause confusion among customers about the origins of the services or products they are consuming.

•    In the event of a legal conflict, later users must cease using the trademark and could be forced to pay damages to the first owner.

Precautionary Measures

In order to choose a domain name that fits the needs of your business’s marketing while not impeding the rights of someone else’s trademark, it is a good idea to look at as many trademarks that are currently on the market as possible. This way, you can pick out any potential disputes and accordingly choose a name that avoids them. Use the online database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an easy way to search registered and pending trademarks. Search for your exact name as well as those with synonyms and variations on your spelling, as these represent areas to be avoided.

This may seem like a large number of legal hoops to jump through for something as simple as a name, but doing so ensures that your domain name is unique. This distinctiveness can only mean good things for your company’s memorability going forward.

Distinctiveness and Trademark Protection

Companies usually achieve this quality by making something up or using something that is ostensibly arbitrary, fanciful or suggestive of the company’s available products. Generally speaking, if a name has been registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, chances are good that it is distinctive.

On the other hand, names that are not distinctive do not qualify for protection under trademarks. So while something such as computers.com is potentially powerful because of its scope, it is also generic. If a domain name uses geographic names, surnames or common words that are directly related to a site’s products or services, it is not eligible for trademark registration.

Assessing Customer Confusion

If someone who owns an existing trademark applies the above principles to domain names and is able to convince an arbitrator or judge that your domain name is capable of creating confusion among customers, you could then potentially lose the name for good.

In most cases, confusion means that a customer who purchases certain goods and services expected one thing and got something different. For instance, if a slight misspelling of a domain name results in you purchasing a product that is ostensibly very similar to the one you wanted, that is considered a state of customer confusion. Another type of confusion is created when a domain name wrongly convinces customers that a service or product is somehow linked to a more well-known business, thereby creating confusion regarding the origin of the items or services in question.