SonyVideo.com

[DomainPairs]

I thought that Sony were highly litigious, but they seem to have let www.sonyvideo.com run as a search service since 1999.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/sonyvideo.com

Does this mean it was a valid use of the name?

[elequa]

I am not a lawyer ... but I hope you didnt register the domain. Whether its TM or not would you have registered the domain if SONY didnt exist?

[think]

Interesting scenario but I think rather than being appropriate use it is use without the knowledge and consent of Sony. In other words I think Sony just missed this one. Just my opinion but I would be careful.

[Drewbert]

>I am not a lawyer ... but I hope you didnt register the domain.

I'm not a lawyer, but I think your hope is in vain.

[devolution]

Sony make Video Recorders, which obviously comes under the TM Category of 'Video Equipment' or 'Entertainment Equipment'.
And they would be foolish as hell if they don't have a registration of the Entertainment category.

So any use of Sony together with Entertainment-related words, including Video is a breach of their Registered Trademark.

An easy case for a UDRP lawyer.

They are unlikely to have a registration of Foodstuffs category (eg: Sony Fruit), so you could have sonyfruit.com, but the rule of thumb is, the bigger the corporation, the more you have to be careful (and afraid) - and Sony's as big as they come, so it isn't worth it.

[DomainPairs]

But Sony is a nice company with good products.

Seriously, I need to learn about domain owning problems, so I'll probably run it as far as I can if they do complain, although I would prefer to work with them in providing a service to potential customers. The Sony web structure is complex, and it's made worse by search engine's paid placement policies and susceptibility to spamming.

I haven't bought the name to sell.
I'm not depriving them of the name - they could have claimed it at any time since 1999, but they haven't.
I bought the name off a drop list, and I'm sure that they monitor these.
I'm offering a useful service to surfers.
I'm not attemting to diminish their company or the reputation of their products.

It seems to me that I'm helping them.

[Drewbert]

Let me know how you go.