cogeek said:
Hello guys,
i woud like ask if i buy a domain like iom2005.org(example)
will it be illegal if iom means international olympiad of mathematics and the iom2004.org i registered or can i register it and say the im as
internet organization mikos 2005?
The iom was just an example
please do not post if yo udon't know!
I'm not an attorney, but I'll gladly share what I've learned (and still am)...
cogeek, there's no "legality" or "illegality" when registering and using a domain
name for whatever purpose. But there are
limits.
One limit is trademarks, of course. Since trademarks apply to words and/or
phrases at the very least, they can apply to domain names as well.
Whether iom will infringe on International Olympiad of Mathematics, or any
letter combination will infringe on a well-known entity's trademark for that
matter, will depend crucially on how you use the domain name.
If you're going to use the name that has a totally different topic than the TM
holder you're worried about, make sure your website content sticks to that
topic and doesn't make
any reference whatsoever to that TM holder at all.
Adding a disclaimer that your site is not related to the TM holder can boost
your defense if it ever reaches UDRP or Court.
Here's a link which one of dnforum's most respected members gave more info
on the subject:
http://dnforum.com/showthread.php?t=62627 .
Better yet, research to see if there are other trademarks issued to the letters
in question. I think trademarks can actually be filed for the same or similar
word but for different classes or functions, it depends.
The more specifics you can give, the better answers you'll get.
rg.uk website) - it should be obvious that I am not a lawyer.
k:
