Worldseriesofpoker.co.uk

[Graham Easton]

I wonder if you would be kind enough to offer me some advice. My colleage and I purchased among other domains Worldseriesofpoker.co.uk over a year ago. I have not had time to develop it until now.

Harrah's entertainment has since purchased worldseriesofpoker.com and redirect it to their site. They also stuck trademarks on the words at the US patent office in July 2004 as follows. "Services IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services, namely, organizing, conducting, producing and exhibiting poker events rendered live and through the media of television and the Internet; providing information in the field of poker related tips and strategy; and providing news and information relating to poker events, tournaments, schedules, players and other related topics of interest to the poker player community. FIRST USE: 20040714. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20040714"

My question is, does this prevent me from developing my domain ?

[namedropper]

Well, strictly speaking, if you owned the domain name before their first use, then you couldn't have gotten it in bad faith. So in that sense you should be fine if it comes to UDRP or similar disputes.

The big problem, though, is by the nature of the name it sounds like you may have a hard time developing it without infringing upon their trademark. Poker is fairly specific, world series implies global reach (though the UK part suggests regional). If you tried to set up a World Series of Poker, with or without the domain name in question, I imagine you'd run into problems with them... unless you had already developed the phrase for use in business yourself before they did.

And that's not legal advice, I'm not a lawyer, anyone can sue you for anything if they want to and a meteor can crash into the planet at any time making all laws moot.

[Graham Easton]

Thanks Namedropper, I'm in no way going to rely on anyone's posting here - I'm just curious to hear people's opinions.

I think I may well develop it, and be upfront in the headers/titles that my domain is in no way affiliated with or connected to Harrah's competition. My ownership of the domain does appear to predate their trademarks. I may set it up to mirror www.texashold-empoker.com as the terms will clearly receive loads of search engine hits.

Worst case - I lose the domain or they offer to buy it from me. Naive perhaps, but I live on an island in the middle of nowhere

[GeorgeK]

There's a "world series of poker" trademark with a first use of 1970, and registration of 1975. They'd have a strong claim, should they wish to pursue the domain, as that tournament is famous around the world, broadcast in many countries on television.

[Graham Easton]

There's a "world series of poker" trademark with a first use of 1970, and registration of 1975. They'd have a strong claim, should they wish to pursue the domain, as that tournament is famous around the world, broadcast in many countries on television.

George, I'm familiar with the tournament. Is the 1975 mark not just in connection with the sponsoring and or conducting of poker contests? I'd be doing neither. Also, if the trademark is all encompassing, how come someone else was able to register exclusive rights to sell tickets with World Series of Poker on them ?