Is a Domain Name an Automatic Trademark? 251
TheWorkingStiff writes "I registered a descriptive domain name (something like "thesimpledog.com") and started a blog on it. About a month later I get a threatening letter from a link farmer who owns "simpledog.com" The owner of simpledog.com is claiming that he owns the trademark to the words simpledog even though he has no real business or rights by that name other than a static page with some text and Adsense slapped on it. There is no product, service or brand whatsoever. Does simply registering a two or three word domain give you instant trademark rights to those words even though you've never done anything with them? Should I give up my domain to a link farmer who is trying to bully me, or does he have a valid right to any phrase he registers that isn't already trademarked?"
Well (Score:5, Insightful)
Answer: Ask a lawyer not Slashdot.
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:5, Insightful)
It would cover his area of business, not an unrelated blog. There is no way that somebody would find the sites "confusingly similar."
The guy's just trying to introduce a second revenue stream from his link farm. If anything, I think your site would increase traffic to his site, when people type it wrong.
So trademark it for real (Score:4, Insightful)
No, but... (Score:5, Insightful)
But of course he doesn't have one, so just asking will show him you're not just going to hand over a domain because you got a nasty email, which is what he's expecting. If he tries to quickly file the papers, he'll discover that just owning a domain name is not enough to even file for a trademark, much less get one. He'll have to find other uses of it (prior to yours) to complete the paperwork, and if his site is just a link farm it's questionable whether even his web site would qualify.
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:5, Insightful)
Likewise a business name is just a bit of marketing that happens to be helpful to humans for branding puroses, conceptually not different to a person name for identification.
Also technically correct, but cannot stand on its own in the real world.
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:3, Insightful)
It would be like throwing a bucket of water at the ocean. Uzi Nissan is putting up an amazing fight, but eventually the guy with the most money usually wins.
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:3, Insightful)
First, learn what the law says. A trademark gives you an exclusive right to use a mark in a defined geopgraphical area in a specific class of goods or service. You don't turn on your delta faucet and expect to hear airline shcedules.
If he/she is doing business under that name and you are too in the same class or service then he/she may have a point and you should wait till he files a $1500 UDRP against you (which you can simply say "ok, it's yours, here"). Otherwise, ignore it.
If you two aren't doing business in the same class of goods or service then just ignore him.
A trademark is to protect the consumer so they can identify the source of a service or goods.
You can read a lot of UDRP decisions online. While not a court of law they're meant to be a quick and cheap alternative to a court case and if you're in the com/net/org/most other tlds you're bound by them.
Don't offer your domain for sale is considered "bad faith".
Consult a lawyer, who'll pretty much tell you the same thing (if they understand trademarks and domains which many don't)
Re:Automatic Trademark? (Score:3, Insightful)