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Is it a trademark violation to reg the name of a TV show?

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jalapeno

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I was just wondering about registering the name of a TV program and setting up a fan-type site. I recall seeing a notice at survivor.com that CBS had tried to pry the domain from them, but it had originally been regged by Survivor Software and is currently being used to pelt viewers with ads as long as it's getting so many hits by people looking for information about the show. (I'm just using that as an example; that's NOT the show in question.)

I have no intention of creating an ad assault, but don't want to get in trouble with the network for a fan site. Any thoughts?
 
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domnet

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It totally depends whether the show is trademarked. The Survivor site didn't get in trouble because it existed before the Survivor show was even a thought. Now your talking about registering a name after a show has been produced. You very well could then loose the name.
 

Bob

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Another factor to consider is whether the name is a generic term. Survivor could have also "survided" because according to WIPO, people can register domain names that are trademarked if they are generic dictionary names. I have several flagrant TM violations that if challenged, I am VERY confident I would be able to retain them.

The original question of whether of not it is a TM violation is more of a question of is the domain name / TV show a generic word or common phrase?


Here is a snippet of WIPO case 2000-0016 that addresses generic words -vs- trademarks.

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The question to be answered is whether the offering for sale of the domain name allocation.com as such can be considered use of the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services in accordance with Article 4c (i) on which ground Respondent would have a legitimate interest in this domain name.

Respondent has registered over 400 domain names, all of which contain or are composed of common words or short phrases from the English language or misspellings of such words. In trademark terms, many of these domain names would be considered descriptive of certain goods or services, or generic. Registration of descriptive or generic terms as a domain name is possible under the .com TLD. As the commercial value of such domain names has increased, brokers like Respondent have seized the opportunity to sell such domain names to the highest bidder. In principle, such a practice may constitute use of the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services (i.e. the sale of the domain name itself).

The difficulty lies in the fact that the domain name allocation.com, although descriptive or generic in relation to certain services or goods, may be a valid trademark for others. This difficulty is expounded by the fact that, while ‘Allocation’ may be considered a common word in English speaking countries, this may not be the case in other countries, such as Germany.

Therefore, although the registration and offering for sale of allocation.com as a domain name may constitute a legitimate interest of Respondent in the domain name, this is different if it were shown that allocation.com has been chosen with the intent to profit from or otherwise abuse Complainant’s trademark rights.

Respondent’s explanation that he selected many of the domain names offered for sale at random from a dictionary appears prima facie acceptable. Complainant has not disputed the fact that (many of) Respondent’s domain names - including allocation.com - represent words or short phrases found in an English language dictionary.

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For those interested in the whole case decision, here is the link:

http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000-0016.html

Happy TM regging.

-Bob
 

jalapeno

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Well, it would be pretty obvious that I registered it because of the show when a bunch of show-related content was posted on the site. :) Besides, I'd be using the .tv extension.

Maybe I shouldn't bother with it. What I should really be doing is developing the domains I already have, but it just sounded fun to do something a little different.

I could always register it and if they ask that I remove the show-related content, I will. I don't know why they'd object if it's nicely-done and not derogatory to the network or the show, though.
 
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