3 Letter + word = TM issue or not?.

[RustyK]

I need your advice on this one.

Are 3 letters such as CBS, NBC, NFL, DOS, etc., trademarks?.

And if so, does adding a single word to the 3 letters make it legal?.

Your thoughts.

[lotk.com]

IMO

No, it is still illegal. Domains like nbcfootball, nflapparel, etc. are still infringing on trademarks.

Just my 2 cents though...

[Chappy]

I need your advice on this one.

Are 3 letters such as CBS, NBC, NFL, DOS, etc., trademarks?.

And if so, does adding a single word to the 3 letters make it legal?.

Your thoughts.

1. Yes.
2. Clearly it depends. If the word you add is related to the business of the trademark owner (i.e. CBSnews.com, NFLfootball.com...) then it seems like clear infringement to me.

Use common sense people....

[RustyK]

1. Yes.
2. Clearly it depends. If the word you add is related to the business of the trademark owner (i.e. CBSnews.com, NFLfootball.com...) then it seems like clear infringement to me.

Use common sense people....

Sometimes greed overule common sense so I reg'd it and even though I know it would be that i word I had to come here to clear my concious a bit.

It's a gem so I'll keep it until I get a C/D. Want to know what it is?.

No. I'm not telling. Thanks guys.

Since I cannot edit. I need to say that I'll hand it over to the Sheriff and clear my name. Thanks again.

[EnricoSchaefer]

Of course, there may me many non-infringing uses for the domain. ABC may be a trademark for that network, but it could also be a web site for a spelling book for children, or an abbreviation for another legitimate use. If you put a parking page up which serves up ups which compete with the trademark owner, however, you could lose more than the domain. The ACPA provides statutory damages up to $100,000 plus attorney fess and big companies can be very aggressive in pursing damages.

[marcorandazza]

If you put a parking page up which serves up ups which compete with the trademark owner, however, you could lose more than the domain.

Wise words indeed.

[biggedon]

I need your advice on this one.

Are 3 letters such as CBS, NBC, NFL, DOS, etc., trademarks?.

And if so, does adding a single word to the 3 letters make it legal?.

Your thoughts.

i think it would depend on what you use the acronyms for in relationship to the single word.

something like "cbsalumni.com" (not mine), where cbs is acronymn for "chicago business school" . this would be no relation to cbs broadcasting.

though the premise is that you have a developed website with that domain.

should it be parked and serving ads related to "cbs tv", then it could be deemed as "confusing", which leads to "infringement".

it depends on usage... imo

[Spex]

2. Clearly it depends. If the word you add is related to the business of the trademark owner (i.e. CBSnews.com, NFLfootball.com...) then it seems like clear infringement to me.

Use common sense people....

So would something like NFLtrades.com be an infringement? Trades are a part of sport, but it's not really the main business.

[marcorandazza]

So would something like NFLtrades.com be an infringement? Trades are a part of sport, but it's not really the main business.

It depends on how you use nfltrades.com. If you use it to report on player trades, that would probably be fair use.

If it is just a PPC site with ads keyed to football, then probably not a defensible use.

[draggar]

IMO the largest part if you'll get a WIPO or not is the trademark owner and how they feel about what you're doing with the domain.

Some entities don't care even if you register their TM in a .net or .org and use it as a community others will go after you if you register a bunch of random letters and just happen to have their TM in the middle somewhere.