Loan.com and eLoan.com

[alwaysthinking]

Both there sites are competing in the same market. Is this ok?

Reason I am asking is that I have some keyword domain names with 'e' and 'i' in front. And I am thinking about developing them. Some of those keywords are already existing sites. Could this be an issue?

e.g. lets say you had ebootsdotcom or ibootsdotcom and bootsdotcom already exists. They are selling makeup and you wanna sell boots. Now boots is very generic term but at the same time boots is also their brand name.

Any insight is appreciated.

[acronym007]

No conflict if you use it right, stay as far away from any resemblance of their products and or material. With loan and eloan being such huge companies there is nothing to worry about between the two of them. With you, I'm assuming a smaller budget than your competitor, you will need to proceed with some caution.

[HuntingMoon]

check with an ip lawyer of course for real legal advice. in my non-lawyer opinion though, as long as the keyword behind the e or i is generic, you should be fine. go out of your way to distinguish your site and services from the competition. perhaps put the other site on formal notice too.

[thedomainster]

Originally Posted by HuntingMoon

check with an ip lawyer of course for real legal advice. in my non-lawyer opinion though, as long as the keyword behind the e or i is generic, you should be fine. go out of your way to distinguish your site and services from the competition. perhaps put the other site on formal notice too.

I think that going out of your way to distinguish your site and service is a very good idea, but I think giving the other company "formal notice" would be too much. It might just put you on their radar and could be used to show that you knew your domain was very similar to theirs IMO.

[DNQuest.com]

[quote=HuntingMoon;1428179 as long as the keyword behind the e or i is generic, you should be fine. [/QUOTE]

To correctly word this statement... as long as the keyword behind the e or i is descriptive, you should be fine

[alwaysthinking]

Originally Posted by DNQuest.com

To correctly word this statement... as long as the keyword behind the e or i is descriptive, you should be fine

Different people different strokes!

Just using the same boots example, boots is generic word and descriptive then. Then you have a company that is using it as a brand for something completely different.

Where does one draw the line?
Do you think TM'ing that domain with e or i infront is also an added protection layer?

[DNQuest.com]

Originally Posted by alwaysthinking

Different people different strokes!

Not really, many poeple do not know the difference of "generic" arguments vs. "descriptive arguments". Lets use apple, it is generic, but try selling computers, it is no longer generic. But use apples to sell apples, that is a whole different story. So it is not matter of potatoe/potatoe, it is a matter of properly presenting an issue.

Just using the same boots example, boots is generic word and descriptive then. Then you have a company that is using it as a brand for something completely different.

Goes to my explaination above, usage determines if a "generic" domain comes under TM or is descriptive.

Where does one draw the line?
Do you think TM'ing that domain with e or i infront is also an added protection lay is the question.

The unfortunate answer is "the one willing to spend the money to have the line drawn". It takes money to fight for or fight against a cause. That is why there is overreaching with TMs, the lil guy just gives up. I do feel there is a small percentage of rulings which were wrong. But many UDRPs goes unchallenged and some I wish were fought to see the outcome.

As far as E or I, It is dependant on the situation, the keyword and usage would play an important part of deciding that issue. eBay and eLance are TMs, the keyword itself in "generic" in nature, but if you start using the workds in the field of the TMs, that could cause trouble. The domain game is no longer an easy game to play. And I have a feeling it is going to get harder.