The danger of....

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SeoDave

Bumbling Optimist
Mar 22, 2007
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....trademarked domains - Most people here probably have at least one or 2 domains in their "portfolio" that have trademarks in them. How dangerous is this? What is the risk of having your domain taken away? What about risk of a lawsuit? How liable are you when you have a domain like xboxshack.com or microsoftproduct.net? If you can find high frequency trademarked products, is it worth it to build a domain around it and try to capitalize even though you risk losing your domain or being sued? If so, what methods of monetization would most people use when building these sites? Adsense mostly or would you try to target some affiliate offers with the trademarked domains?

Just something I've been thinking about lately as I've been going through my domain portfolio. Thought these questions and their answers might be beneficial to others on the board. =) Let me know what you think.
 


Hey Dave,

I wrote a post roughly going over some of your questions about a week ago. Take a look at it and tell me if you have anything more specific you want me to try and help with:

http://www.wickedfire.com/industry-...-have-done-if-you-bought-95-a.html#post179250

Really, the bottom line is, the domain has to be good enough for the company to want it ($x,xxx and above) or you have to be monetizing their trademarks on a mass scale to get a attention. Still, I do not buy or develop TM domains.

Given the examples in your post, Microsoft would first issue a C&D on the domains, in which 90% of people cave and give them away. Then, they would UDRP and take the domains. With UDRP, the complainant can not be awarded damages so the most you could lose are the domains and some dignity. However, if they file ACPA (rare for a small infringement) you can be forced to pay damages up to $100,000 per domain
 
Great question. Has anybody here ever had anything like this happen to them? If so, how did you handle it. And can you tell us what TM is was?
 
Yes, I have several times. There have been times I've called their bluff, times I've had to fight it, and times I just gave it up. Gotta pick your battles. A quality UDRP defense from a top lawyer is going to run 5-10k but if the name is good enough, it's worth it.
 
Bottom line... it depends on the company.

Some companies will likely see it as an "added value"... you're doing a lot of legwork to get them extra sales. You are a free sales person working on commission with no benefits.

Others will see it as an infringement... you could be putting out false information. Even worse, you could be outranking them for keywords at which point they'll just want to take your site and rake in the profits themselves, without the affiliate payouts.

Like any possible project, you have to weight the possible payout vs. the possible risk. In this case, you are risking a lot of time for something that may yield zero results. But if the potential payout is large enough, the odds are in your favor.

So yeah... it depends on the company's history with dealing with similar problems and also on the profit potential of the niche itself.

Hope this helps somewhat alhtough its all pretty much obvious.
 
chatmasta said:
You serious? Defend yourself pussy. :repuke:
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He had a point, when it comes to challenging large corporations over trademarks, I'm a pussy. You on the other hand are just a cockmunching cumgobbler. Enjoy - :love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::321::love-smiley-086::love-smiley-086::love-smiley-086::love-smiley-086:
 
I've had the .net version of a microsoft owned domain for almost 4 years now. I've also been using it to distribute adware. lol
 
Deliguy said:
I've had the .net version of a microsoft owned domain for almost 4 years now. I've also been using it to distribute adware. lol
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There is a big legal difference between Microsoft happening to own the .com of your .net versus illegally profiting from their trade or service mark.
 
The issue as far as I've ever heard comes down to appropriate use. Look at Nissan.com for an example. The guy that owns Nissan.com bought it because it's his company name, and his company was named after his last name. They're in two completely different industries.

The fact is, Nissan Motors tried to muscle him out rather than try to go the high road and just fork over a $mil or so to buy it off the guy. I'm sure when the dispute started something like "Nissancomps.com" was available too, lol.

Anyways, if you're ACTING in the same regard as the company that owns the trademark, yea, you could be in some serious shit and be forced to surrender the domain. It'd be like if you somehow acquired "Coke.com" and you were promoting your own brand of cola - that would be implicit trademark infringement.

There's a ton of grey area on the issue, but for the most part you can play hardball and just try to get a high bid value out of it.
 
SeoDave said:
He had a point, when it comes to challenging large corporations over trademarks, I'm a pussy.
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Welcome to the club, same here. Been there, done that.

The domain was the name of a company I had never heard of before, pretty generic name, so I had no clue until a letter from their lawyer arrived to turn it over.

First lesson learned: Domain privacy means shit.

I thought I'd be a smartass and replied to the letter, offered the domain to them for xxxxx$. Not a huge company, so I thought 5 digits would be fair, peanuts for them, a new car for me. They promtly replied with a C&D.

Second lesson learned: Don't try to save money on a lawyer

I thought I'd be a smartass again, got myself a lawyer, and went for the hard way. To make it short: I don't own the domain any more and I paid more than the domain ever made me.

Third lesson learned: Stay away from trademark domains and save money on a lawyer.
 
SeoDave said:
He had a point, when it comes to challenging large corporations over trademarks, I'm a pussy. You on the other hand are just a cockmunching cumgobbler. Enjoy - :love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::love-smiley-083::321::love-smiley-086::love-smiley-086::love-smiley-086::love-smiley-086:
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QFT.....

:D
 
SeoDave said:
....trademarked domains - Most people here probably have at least one or 2 domains in their "portfolio" that have trademarks in them. How dangerous is this? What is the risk of having your domain taken away? What about risk of a lawsuit? How liable are you when you have a domain like xboxshack.com or microsoftproduct.net? If you can find high frequency trademarked products, is it worth it to build a domain around it and try to capitalize even though you risk losing your domain or being sued? If so, what methods of monetization would most people use when building these sites? Adsense mostly or would you try to target some affiliate offers with the trademarked domains?

Just something I've been thinking about lately as I've been going through my domain portfolio. Thought these questions and their answers might be beneficial to others on the board. =) Let me know what you think.
Click to expand...

I have two domains with the word "google" in them, I drive traffic into them via adwords and both sites have adsense ads.
:)
 
You basically have two issues when it comes to trademarks..

#1 -- its a legitimate claim.

#2 -- its not a legitimate claim. Trademarks cover a similar product line. For example, Apple Computers had issues with Apple Records decades ago but because they were in the computer business and not the music business there was no legitimate trademark claim Apple Records had. The iPod and iTunes thing came along and changed this, but thats another story.

Ask yourself first, do I want to spend the time & money, is the domain even worth anything to me? Even if the claim is not legitimate, and the domain makes you nothing (and its silly), fuck it.
 
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