Tm Conflict Question

sabwebsites · Apr 15, 2014

I am selling AxeAxe.com domain and I have received today the following private message from someone:

"AXE" is a brand brandmark owned by multinatonal company UNILEVER .. AXE is used as the desodorant brand so you should have carefull selling that particular domain name even if its very easy to pronounce... caution..

This case is very difficult because Trademarks vs. Generic Terms..,
"axe" is a dictionary word. It is not possible to consider as a trademark a term that is generic for the goods/services identified in the application.. (more info: http://secureyourtrademark.com/can-you-trademark/trademark-a-generic-word/.) obviously all of the 3 letter domains are trademarked only because of their high value and the owners wants to protect them..axe.com is not owned by the multinatonal company unilever according to vhois, and also axe as a dictionary word has 1184 trademarks registration according to namecheck.com and axeaxe has none (is not identical !) . So if all of the 3 lll.com's are internet domains or company names may conflict with those 6 letter not even identical domains?

RTM.net · Apr 15, 2014

I think it boils down to usage... of the name - whether it's both generic yet a common brand... So, running a site about soap, shampoo and deodorant would ensure a quick and costly demise for the project.

sabwebsites · Apr 15, 2014

Thanks RTM for your reply.

icedude · Apr 15, 2014

Most likely someone that is trying to get the name for cheap, because "AxeAxe" has nothing to do with Axe.

Theo · Apr 15, 2014

AppleApple.com sounds clean too. It also sounds stupidly redundant.

Jack Gordon · Apr 16, 2014

I'm with the others, though to my knowledge none of us are attorneys and you should not be relying on advice from strangers in an internet forum.

Having said that, you can live your life in fear or you can do your best to go forward playing by the rules as you understand them.

axeaxe.com is a great example of a name where, yeah, someone could try to make a case, and they might even win. But, the chances seem slim because, frankly, it probably doesn't have enough market value to bother going after.

If anything, they might try to scare you into handing it over with an intimidating letter. And, you would probably be wise to hand it over if they did. Not because you would necessarily lose a challenge, but because the cost of defending a challenge would be very high in relation to any reasonable market value that could be extracted from the domain.

My (admittedly unqualified) advice is to sell it if you can and move on with your life. And if someone with an IP interest comes knocking, let them have it.

Good luck.