tm search..

[kvarnsten]

I found this tm search

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?...ate=8cscoc.1.1


if a webname or name is not found there is that a good pointer that the name is not trademarked and not under the wings of WIPO?

searching for similar sites one can find that for example
PartyPoker.com is TMed but EmpirePoker.com can not be found..


is this search of any value and does it have any connections to trademarks registered outside the US?

[Garry Anderson]

Regular viewers please switch off ;-)

"is this search of any value and does it have any connections to trademarks registered outside the US?"

Sorry kvarnsten.

The great and mighty UN WIPO themselves will not guarantee that your domain is safe - even if you check all their sources:

"any searches using the links provided on this site will not be sufficient to determine definitively whether or not the domain name is infringing."

http://ecommerce.wipo.int/databases/...ark/index.html

I am certain that the people within UN WIPO are corupt.

They KNOW that virtually every word is registered trademarked and confusion can arise with domain names.

They KNOW that the only way to avoid confusion with ordinary domain names is to have some sort of identifier to identify them - to replace registered trademark symbol ® - like a protected .reg TLD.

They wish to give over the DNS to their customers - the registered trademark holders.

Indeed - you can legally use any word, words or initials to start a new business without registering a trademark - providing you are not passing off, of course. Take for example the word 'apple'. It is legally used by thousands of businesses - large and small all over the world. Indeed, it is impossible that they all register themselves as trademarks - they are bound to conflict with many others, being confusingly similar. In my local phone book alone, there are at least five using this word - two garages (seems not connected), a car centre, fruit growers and a decorating firm.

Solution?

apple.com could resolve to apple.computer.us.reg

Who else could it be?

This can be also used directly (as directory) and acts as certificate of authentication.

By the way, there are 314 Records on USPTO using the word "Empire". Those that use it for any form of gambling will likely have your nuts.

kvarnsten - do not forget to check the word on two hundred other countries

[chatcher]

I found this tm search

http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?...ate=8cscoc.1.1

is this search of any value and does it have any connections to trademarks registered outside the US?

I am not a lawyer, so don't bet the ranch on anything I say.

To protect yourself when buying or registering a domain name, it is not so important to prove that nobody is using the mark as it is to establish that you could not have reasonably been expected to know someone was using the mark. The federal trademark database is by no means a complete list of marks being used in the United States, let alone elsewhere. But anyone in the United States is expected to be aware of any mark listed in the database. If the mark reflected in the domain name you seek (leave off the .com, and try the search as separate words and as one combined word) is not registered in your country, and is not famous in your country, then you should have a shot at claiming you were not aware the mark was being used by another party. Of course if the UDRP panel, or the trial judge or jury disagrees with your claim, you could still lose.

(Of course even if the mark is registered doesn't mean you CAN'T use it in an unrelated class, but you'll have to do more work to defend yourself against a complainant with a registered trademark.)

It seems like almost any string of random characters is being used by someone, somewhere, for something. As long as I've never heard of it, and it isn't registered in my state or country, I don't worry too much about lawsuits or UDRP actions.

[kvarnsten]

Still I sat down and searched through a bunch of WIPO cases.. and ALL of the trademarks that were claimed infringed upon could be found in the TM search. Ive also noticed about the search that many seem to be registered in different foreign countries. I guess though that as you say WIPO will make their own judgements as to what is a tm so this may not be a great help still.