3 ms·

You can't squat trademarks. You can use trademark claims to get domain names from people who aren't using them legitimately, including trying to sell them. We

by btrask 11y ago

You can't squat trademarks. You can use trademark claims to get domain names from people who aren't using them legitimately, including trying to sell them. We could make domain name registration work the same as trademark registration, or people just need to get used to registering trademarks and then using the trademark claim process. Disclaimer: I haven't tried this. I'm afraid trademark claims might only be honored for big companies, not for the little guys.

Someone1234 11y ago
This isn't hugely effective. Trademarks are industry/product/service specific. So just because someone else owns "Example's Flower Shop" doesn't mean you cannot use "Example's Bakery" since there is no reasonable expectation that a consumer could confuse the two (i.e. your bakery doesn't benefit from their Flower Shop's brand). So if you owned Example.com as the baking company, it is unlikely that the flower shop could take it from you even if they own a legitimate trademark. Another note is that trademarks protect TRADE. If you own a registered trademark's domain but use the domain to host your collection of cat photos it is unlikely the company could take that from you (although they can force you to give it up by costing you thousands of dollars in lawyer fees for their frivolous suits, which companies have definitely done in the past). All I am saying is, it isn't cut and dry. Trademarks aren't a magic bullet. PS - But like all things, the party with the most money/influence almost always wins regardless of right/wrong, lawful/lawless. They can cost you tens of thousands of dollars even if you're completely right and on the right side of the law.
- btrask 11y ago
  The ideas is to use it against outright squatters, not against other businesses that have the same name. You're right that it doesn't help with personal sites. The "Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy"[1] seems pretty clear-cut against squatters. See section 4a and 4b. "Bad faith" includes "primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name." Basically a definition of squatting. [1] https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2012-02-25-en https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2012-02-25-en

by btrask 11y ago

Someone1234 11y ago

This isn't hugely effective. Trademarks are industry/product/service specific. So just because someone else owns "Example's Flower Shop" doesn't mean you cannot use "Example's Bakery" since there is no reasonable expectation that a consumer could confuse the two (i.e. your bakery doesn't benefit from their Flower Shop's brand). So if you owned Example.com as the baking company, it is unlikely that the flower shop could take it from you even if they own a legitimate trademark. Another note is that trademarks protect TRADE. If you own a registered trademark's domain but use the domain to host your collection of cat photos it is unlikely the company could take that from you (although they can force you to give it up by costing you thousands of dollars in lawyer fees for their frivolous suits, which companies have definitely done in the past). All I am saying is, it isn't cut and dry. Trademarks aren't a magic bullet. PS - But like all things, the party with the most money/influence almost always wins regardless of right/wrong, lawful/lawless. They can cost you tens of thousands of dollars even if you're completely right and on the right side of the law.

btrask 11y ago
The ideas is to use it against outright squatters, not against other businesses that have the same name. You're right that it doesn't help with personal sites. The "Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy"[1] seems pretty clear-cut against squatters. See section 4a and 4b. "Bad faith" includes "primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name." Basically a definition of squatting. [1] https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2012-02-25-en https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/policy-2012-02-25-en