Trademarks,lawyers & other headaches.

[garyrcanuck]

Being in this domain industry for only a few years i am finding that this is not one of the easiest occupations to be in. This is GOOD of course, or everyone would be doing it.

One of the biggest problems I am finding is this Trademark thing. It appears to me that every word,saying or descriptive phrase is Trademarked.

I have read & reread all I can about trademarks, but not being a lawyer I cannot understand most of it as these laws were written by Lawyers so no one else will understand them.

It is quite easy to pick out words and phrases that are probably trademarked. Fot example Olympics, games, Name of city & year Olympics are being held and so on. I did receive a C&D about one of my names so I know this.

OK, what I would like some feedback on is a name I have (several actually) Lets say it is the name of a city, like "cityofwherevercanada*com" I went to the Canadian intellectual website (which I found on this forum,Thanks)
Here i searched for the name and found it trademarked which included a logo or flower of some sort? It was only the name & logo that was Trademarked, the name Canada which I have in my Dname was not mentioned.

Question, if "cityofwherever" is trademarked does it also apply to "cityofwhereverCANADA"?

To try and find a legal answer to this I contacted the law firm that represents the city in question and asked ( a secretary, you have to pay to talk to a lawyer) Does my name infringe on your clients trademark name, away she went for a couple of minutes, when she returned she told me that I have to obtain my own lawyer as this firm represents the city and it would be in conflict of interest Like I only asked them would my name be in conflict to the cities trademark & they would not tell me.

So it looks like I have to spend a bundle to obtain a lawyer who is probably a buddy of the lawyer that would not say, yes or No to my question.

Sorry for the long post. i would appreciate it though if anyone could shed some light on this. I believe I may be in the 'Cybersquatting" situation, but I do not know.

This is only one example, I imagine if everyone looked closely to their portfolio that there could be trademark conflicts, that you are not aware of due to the complex laws of Trademarks

Again Thanks for any feedback.

[Dave Zan]

Only thing I'll say is PM Zak Muscovitch or check his site.

[garyrcanuck]

Hey Dave

Thanks for the link, Looks like the place to get answers.

[Zak Muscovitch]

Trademark law is very confusing, in large part because there are usually no 'hard and fast' rules that you can apply; everything is fact-specific. For example, a slight variation of a term could sufficeintly differentiate it from a registered mark. Likewise, a difference in the registered wares and services can sufficeintly differentiate between two marks.

I would be happy to discuss your situation free of charge. Email me at zak@muscovitch.com or phone me - 416-924-5084.

Best Regards,

Zak
www.DNattorney.com