Trademark Question

[Duke]

Thanks Skylark! You have been a tremendous help. I will check this out thouroughly. As I noted, this is not a name worth devoting a lot of time and energy to. I will probably just quietly dump it. It is an area I need to learn about though - I still believe in the Boy Scout motto - Be Prepared!

 

[hiOsilver]

Everyone in the domain business should read the book "Trademarks: How to Name Your Business and Product" from Nolo Press http://www.nolo.com .

United Airlines, United Van Lines, United Fruit. Multiple companies sharing a trade name used to be common. I wont go into everything covered by the book, but everyone here should buy and read the book. It is outstanding. I used it to get a Federal registration on hiOsilver , the name of my company. http://www.hiosilver.com

If you use a non-obvious but trademarked domain for a legitimate purpose, you have little to worry about. The most you are likely to lose is the name, and that is not likely. The longer you use a name, and the more alternative domains for the TM holder, the less likely they will bother with you. In general, lawyers cost a lot and only really valuable names are worth reverse-hijacking by TM holders.

I sold TampaBayMagazine.com to Tampa Bay Magazine for a modest sum, and they were happy to deal with me. When I regged it, I did not know of the magazine. I had a real purpose in regging it, but never got around to using it. The magazine owner was a lawyer, so he knew it was better to buy from me than hire a TM lawyer. You do have to be careful about how you handle these situations. It is best if you can get them to make an offer, rather than you naming a price.

 

[Duke]

Thanks HL - excellent advice and I will get the book. I live in the Tampa Bay area. Congrats on the magazine sale. I have seen their magazine and it is high quality. The site name would have been a smart purchase for them as they have a quality product that is worth branding across all media.

 

[Duke]

HL - I just checked out the Nolo site. Not finding that booik under the title you have. Could it be:

Trademark Basics for Naming Your Small Business?

Says it has domain info in that book too.

 

[Duke]

Never Mind HL!. I found the book under the title you listed at Half.com. It is now out of print, however I picked up a used copy for under $5. A couple of sellers at Amazon also have used copies under $5 so if others want the book, check both venues and you can find it cheap.