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Trademark Question When performing a 'Trademark Check' is it normally good enough to search 'Words' for an 'exact match' or do you need to check a 'string' as well. I would be interested to know the method of choice for checking the Trademark of a .tel If a .tel is only one word (not counting the .tel extension) would I be correct in thinking that the 'Word exact match' method would be good enough for most practical purposes. (search) For Word (Search Type) Exact (Text) Insert text |
Exact word match is not enough. The main criterion here is whether the name of the product is confusingly similar to the trademark. If they are, then potential buyers might accidentally buy the wrong product, and that is exactly the kind of situation that trademark law was designed to prevent. However similarity in itself is not sufficient, the trademark holder must prove that there is a chance of confusion. There is a lot written about it. It's very complicated and can be very expensive if you get it wrong, especially if it is proven that you are trying to gain from the trademarked name or similarity, or benefit by selling on the name to the company. I'm sure other forum members will have opinions and experiences, as I have. I for one think if a domain name is trademarked it should not be available for general sale. It usually ends up with bad feeling and you losing your fees. |
Hi dialaroom You are certainly right on that one, the whole things a bit of a mine field and totally agree with you that trademarked names should NOT be available for sale. If it's ok to buy something it should be sold with all the rights to use it or sell it on, or not be on sale at all. Whatever happens the TLD provider appears to be in the clear no matter what happens. |
At the moment it is down to the unsuspecting domain name buyer, with no re-course if the domain is unusable. |
