Janet Cho and Christel Harlacher from the firm of Williams Mullen published a piece on Trademark rights that’s worth giving a once over and bookmarking. Especially for those new to domaining who sometimes have the wrong impression of trademark rights.
The post titled: Ten Trademark Myths and How They Can Hurt Your Business clears up some misconceptions that those without a background in intellectual property tend to have.
From the article:
8. I need a registration in order to “trademark” a mark (or acquire rights in it).
In the United States, trademark rights arise with use of the mark in the marketplace. Hence, once you start using your trademark to promote your goods and services, this is when you acquire trademark rights. A trademark registration—while granting useful benefits—is not the mechanism through which you acquire trademark rights. This is not necessarily the case in other countries, where trademark rights do not exist if a party has not registered its mark. The benefits of trademark ownership include: a) the ability to use the ® registration symbol; b) the legal presumption that you own your mark; c) the ability to preclude others from registering a similar mark as Examining Attorneys at the USPTO will check the UPSTO Register for confusingly similar marks; and d) you may rely upon your registration in the United States as the basis for trademark filings in other jurisdictions internationally.
#3. “It is true that generic marks are not entitled to trademark protection”
Except when it comes to domains! Somehow adding .com makes it distinctive. What most domainers are excited about? Sounds like dangerous thinking…
I do believe the likes of ICA promote this as ‘good’, because they believe it will help .com have a monopoly across all ntld. They don’t want competition. They’ll argue, outside of ICANN, that this ‘other’ domain is too similar to their TM domain (lol).
TM for generic things is to prevent unreasonable monopolies!!
But for domains, now such monopoly are being encouraged!!!
If what I say has some truth, (regardless proponents realize their motives or not) TM completely backfires on domaining. I’m positive this is a bigger problem then most you imagine. It will destroy domaining as u know it. It’s a cluster. It only helps ‘professional looking’ scammers.
The TM defenses to soon be deployed in know-nothing civil courts will be these TM owners going after vaguely related domains, plurals, double letters etc.
ICA is terrorizing domaining. They are registries, registrars and lawyers salivating over the prospect of flexing their intellectual savvy in order to rip domains away that they have no right to.
Well all live to see it. Domaining is in big trouble. U lost control. They’ll skirt ICANN. They’ll create precedent. They’ll take it all.
Congrats on your loss.
BS!
“They don’t want competition.”
Hilarious. There is no competition. .com was, is, and will always be the diamond among the pile of coal.
Always.
Forever.
Trademark is good business?
Only if you’ve got the dot com
Said BS to me above, consider what he’s trying to say here, in so few words.
He proved me right. He is a .com shill. His argument, “good for .com only'” isn’t even factual in reality! It’s the ACTUAL BS! He does to you, what he claims I am doing!
Google, Amazon and others are not tipping their hands in regard to new domains. The first round isn’t even dealt. In context, it’s early.
Your manipulated to believe the ntld suck, but for what it’s worth, I promise they don’t. Booking.hotels booking.flights and a host of others present a clear and present danger to the .com!
They are walking all over you snuffing domaining out (on other fonts too) becoz u are fooled! You won’t stop ntld from taking over! When you are FORCED to accept or quit, it will be too late. You will have stood silent while they wrecked and stole any little chance you still have.
If you can get the baby step that these don’t suck, you can begin to see the complete assult . Comer’s have against domainers. They are taking the ship down with them. They have that much ego!
I reiterate, some registries and registrars are originized against the small guy domainers and you don’t even realize it!
You pick a generic word for branding, deal with concequences period! Direct competition for the term is fair game! Big $ and lawyers don’t like that!
Diatribe