QUESTION about Using Trademark Name in Domain
 

Can someone advice how it works with trademarked names? If I was to set up a board which is for all users and lovers of let's say "Play Station 3" and it would be on the domain such as playstationtalk.com (only using examples) could I get in trouble with trade mark owners?

You can register domains where the words is trademarked, however you cannot use the domain for anything related to the trademark or their competitors.
It needs to be clear for the users that there is no relation to the trademark and what you are doing.

I had a bunch of Ford Mustang related sites and ford's lawyers had me shut them down.

well really I could have just changed the company names and urls but fuck that I wasn't making enuff off them for that kind of juggle...

Because I had the word "Mustang" in my url / company name...

Wow, did not know this. I just bought two domain names with a trademark name in them. I was hoping they would realize their mistake of not buying them sooner and purchase them off me.

Well that can be done as well, you just need to make some unrelated sites for them :2 cents:
It's difficult if the trademark consist of "invented" words / terms though

years ago I was creating product for a site i wanted to name "barbiHarcore" and my lawyer laughed at me on my way through the door .. anything trademarked can be a huge issue .. depends what your doing with it how fast they actually come after you .. but long and short of it .. just stay away ..

That's too bad. I was actually only thinking of setting up a forum board where owners and users of a particular gaming console can chat about things related to their console. I was gonna look for a domain name that contains the name of that console but it looks like not a very good idea. Though in a sense the board would be just promoting that brand - cause all i wanted is to give a community of users I know a place on line where they can hang out and share their common interest. I kind of figured this wasn't a good idea and just the way to get your good intentions turn against you, but I guess I just needed it confirmed :(

I dunno if you are responding to what I said.. But I should add that Ford was going on a rampage contacting websites with a Ford trademark in their name. I had more than 1 site so I had to actually deal with the problem tho.

I dunno how other companies treat things like this...

Ford got quite the backlash for it..

seriously? A mustang is a horse, you might have won if you fought it. but I guess you said you werent making anything off them anyway. I bet that is what they were banking on, you not making enough to fight it.

I hate to burst your bubble, but they don't need to buy the domains from you. They have lawyers, they can get them for "free".

Yah I couldn't fight it for half a dozen reasons but I haven't heard of any sites fighting it just ignoring it or completely giving in..

It's because my sites were devoted to Mustang enthusiasts or selling mustang products.. If I had a site called mustangaftermarket.com and it was about my horse i'm sure it would have been ok..

Makes you wanna NOT consider buying any Ford next time you go vehicle shopping

This is to Ford --> :321GFY

If you can justify you registered the domain with good intend without being in the same area of business, then they can't just take it, a trademark give you good protection against people abusing your name, but it does not give you 100% ownership of the name / mark.
A trademark is registered in categories / productlines you don't get just the name to use as you wish.

If you only want 1k or no more then 5k you may get away with cybersquatting. But if you ask for 40K, most companies would prefer to sue your ass, and give the cash to a lawyer.

So becarefull. and think smart if they do contact you.

This is definitely something that you want to consult a lawyer about, but there are ways to legitimately use a trademarked name in a domain name. With that said, you may have to defend your use of it against a company with a lot more resources than you, so you should carefully consider your options.

There are some interesting articles out there on this subject, and there are cases going both ways on the issue. There are a lot of cases involving adding "sucks" or "fan club" to a trademarked name. There are a lot of websites out there with information and commentary on the subject. Check out chillingeffects.org; theregister.co.uk; frosszelnick.com

I hope this helps:-)

Correct! Take SCORE for instance. We can give you a SCORE t-shirt, but we can't sell you a SCORE t-shirt as we don't own the trademark for that purpose. But Just go ahaed any try launching an adult magazine with the word SCORE, and I'll see you in court! :thumbsup

Check out harrypotterguide.co.uk and paypalsucks.com for an example of some websites that have survived challenge from trademark holders. A thorough google search of these cases or key words about the issues will return more articles than you probably have time to read.

So true !!!

The National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia did not appreciate it when I had a Latina site on MrsJuanValdez.Com.

The NFL tried the rude approach with the domain quarterbackclub.com. After many threatening emails and rudeness I'd finally had enough and (I'm not joking or elaborating here) told the lawyer he'd have to unzip my pants and take me to the back of his throat before I'll release the domain.

I've never heard back from him and to this day - still own that domain. Maybe one day I'll put something on it. Creation date: 04 May 1998

Too much hassle for what it's worth..just avoid using them

agreed, if your site ever did take off and become popular it would only be a matter of time

we had this, a domain owner was trying to sell a domain for a ridiculous amount, guess who has that domain now. FOR FREE.. Yep, we do.

what did it cost you in fees to lawyers or whatever to take the domain?

Bottom line, I would say don't do it. Build a site around a unique name that is all yours and you don't have to deal with somebody crying about it later.

They don't call it intellectual property for nothing. The trademark owner decides how their property is used commercially.

Cybersquatters face penalties of up to $100,000 per domain, and other penalties.

if this is for gaming... you can use generic terms and be open to all consoles (more traffic) somethig like consolechat.com ya know???

I recently had a Politican come after me for a domain, i own her name.com : ) well she had lawyers calling me all day everyday and threatening me... her name is a very generic name and i wound up starting to record the calls and everytime they called me i would say, "i want to let you know i am recording this since i am not a lawyer, please speak accordingly". So after 3 weeks of BS back n forth with her lawyers and how they will own me, I still own the domain and if she wants it, she has to pay. (the conversations i had with her lawyers are crazy and all my friends laugh everytime they hear them)

Trademarks do not give you 100% ownership of a domain in all cases....

post the domain if you want and the "domain gurus" will help u...