Comments

1. Jeff Schneider says

   February 9, 2013 at 12:52 pm

   Hello MHB,

   This is just one of many examples of why it is so critically important that your online corporate name is easiy spelled and memorable. The easier it is to spell is key as wells fargo and other top Internet brand companies are finding. When choosing a corporate online address choose words that are rarely misspelled or are widely used and memorable slang abbreviations that are catchy and unmistakeable. They should be short so as to lessen spelling mistakes in typing them out. Yes short ,memorable and impactful are desireable qualities in any prime online corporate address, and of course there should most definitely be a COM to the right of the Dot.

   Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)

2. DomainNameMojo says

   February 11, 2013 at 6:50 am

   Wells Fargo didn’t pick their name based on avoiding type-ins. They have used the same business name since 1852. How much more descriptive can Wells Fargo get with WellsFargo dot com. They also own WF dot com. How is Wells Fargo making any mistakes? Does Chase need to be more descriptive than Chase dot com? Will British Airways need to do better with British Airways dot com and BA dot com?

   It does not make sense to suggest a company must choose the best domain names. IMO, most top brands are not too worried about typos. They already selected the best domain names possible. Moreover, the top brands have the right to use their names. Nonetheless, there is a fine line between what is generic and what is not. Can Register have fair use of all domain name with “Register” and “domains” in them. “Register” is an action we take to buy domain names.

   Of course, we have instances where Facebook and Apple have taken back high traffic typo names. (i.e. Appl.com. How many people are going to mistype JCP dot com or BN dot com? What about Macys cot com and Target dot com?

   Can TM holders control all domain names? How generic is a name? Can a coupon website such as Coupon Corner use a mask on MacysCoupons dot com and have the right to use this name? They do operate in the coupon space? Should a person be able to operate BNCoupons dot com to promote Barnes and Noble coupons?

   I believe that descriptive domain names relevant to your business are fair use. It is essentially free marketing for Coupon Corner to promote Macy’s coupons. Type-in any domain name you think has a TM holder in it. How generic is a domain name? Can TM holders protect all names? What about those who try to control a generic space?

   There are many companies who attempt to control a generic name. They believe using the name gives them the right to own the name.

   The smartest online company is Barnes and Noble. They run BarnesAndNoble dot com. Furthermore, BN also points BN dot com and BarnesNoble dot com to BarnesAndNoble dot com. They also acquired Borders dot com (former book company), pointing all traffic to their main website. Even more impressive are their Book and Books dot com domains, the best possible names this book company can own in their space. Barnes and Noble did their domain homework long ago.

   Netflix is another intelligent onine entity. They point NetFlicks, Netflick, and Netflic and Netflics to Netflix dot com. This online company owns the best possible generic name is their space – DVD dot com. Their typos are small names that deliver between 1,000+ unique visits per month. It is very small traffic as compared to Netflix dot com, the main website that delivers over 30 million unique visits per month and is ranked as the top 94 website in the world and 19 in the US, according to Alexa data. All Netflix typo variations were created in the late 90s and early 00s.

   Wells Fargo is collecting obvious typos. Are they on a mission to collect all domain names with their business entity in them. Should Wells Fargo have a right to US Wells Fargo dot com, a domain name listed on Domain Name Sales? Not sure. Should Register pursue a generic domain names such as Register Domains and Register Domain Names dot com? Probably not.

   I give credit to Mike for not housing one domain name with “Wells Fargo” in it at MWD. On another note, a domain name such as TheTarget dot com can create conflict between the change of ownership. We know registrars like to park the domain after the transfer process. That lapse in time (between domain transfer) is enough to lose a domain name.

   What is right? What is wrong? Should we worry about companies trying to control all generic names? We see many domain names that companies have yet to claim. These domain names feature disclaimers.