Partial trademark?

[jacob]

I was wondering whether a person bought domain sonycamcorders.com, whether they would be legally forced to give up the domain. I own xboxgnome.com, and while I highly doubt my domain will be revoked, I was curious. Does anyone know anything about this?

Thanks.

 

[domnet]

Yes you can lose the domain very easily. A few cases win every now and then. (Ex: RalphLaurenSheets.com, I believe won)

 

[timechange.com]

Hey jacob, we had that discussion before on WHT I think?

 

[jacob]

Yeah, we had a great discussion :razz:. New ot these forums, they're nice, hope to pick up some great domains too .

 

[CoolHost.com]

"I was wondering whether a person bought domain sonycamcorders.com, whether they would be legally forced to give up the domain. I own xboxgnome.com, and while I highly doubt my domain will be revoked, I was curious. Does anyone know anything about this?"

Many legal experts here can advise!
For MY two cents, I would say, generally, that one would be forced to relinquish the domain(s) you've mentioned.
Specifically, it seems silly to me to be registering domains which are so blatantly and commonly trademarked!
Hope you get the advice you requested (and need).
Good Luck.

PS. I ain't no lawyer.

 

[HOWARD]

Your domain won't be revoked, but you WILL lose it in a UDRP action.

 

[jacob]

Originally posted by CoolHost

Specifically, it seems silly to me to be registering domains which are so blatantly and commonly trademarked!

There are thousands of "xbox" domains registered by non-Microsoft personnel. How is this so strange? It happens constantly. Almost all xbox sites have xbox in their domain.

 

[draqon]

jacob, i recommend you listen to the advice given here.

those other xbox domains can exist because they are being used for xbox fan sites. that is a legitimate use for a domain. purchasing a trademarked domain intending to sell it is considered bad-faith. thats the important difference: what the intentions are of the person who registered it.

 

[namedropper]

Actually, it's probably more likely that Microsoft just hasn't gone after those sites... yet. If they are letting people do it, that's their choice, but it's not necessarily because Microsoft couldn't stop those people.

And relying on what Microsoft has or has not done is a really foolish way to determine what Sony or any other company would do.

--
Dan Norder - Savanna.com, FineGold.com, etc.
High profile and niche domain names for sale

 

[draqon]

microsoft has the *muscle* to stop those people, but not the legal right.

 

[namedropper]

Your opinion of what is legally right may not match what the judge says, which is all that's important. So far name dispute bodies have not clearly given a right to people to use trademarks for fan sites. They have in some cases, but not all, so I wouldn't just assume it's OK.

--
Dan Norder - Savanna.com, FineGold.com, etc.
High profile and niche domain names for sale

 

[pljones]

A lot of it depends on the panelist that you get. If you use the domain to discuss a genome called the "xbox", or just genomes in general, and Microsoft brings a UDRP, and they use WIPO, and they get assigned Diane Cabell as the panelist (same panelist in the above mentioned RalphLaurenSheets.com decision), then you might win.

If you never use the name, Microsoft brings a UDRP, and they get just about any other panelist, then you'll probably lose.