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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?
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?
Future Media Architects, Inc.
www.fma.com
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.
>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.
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.
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.
Let me know how you go.
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