Domain name is similar to competitors

Widgets.com vs widgets-usa.com

[chicagohh]

I purchased a domain name that is similar to a competitors name. The domain is a part of a general term, let's say tables.com (it is not tables, but it is general). My competitor has tablesUSA.com. I purchased tables-USA.com.

Does anyone know if I can build a somewhat competing site under widgets-USA.com? Or, will I be asking for trouble.

Also, we would not really be selling the same widgets. They sell different brands of the general household widgets.

Thanks,

Joe

[buckworks]

You can do it, but that hyphen is going to pose problems if you plan on any offline promotions.

If your site is widgets-usa and his is widgetsusa, you can expect to lose some type-in traffic to him because of people who forget the hyphen.

Just something to keep in mind ...

[Jenstar]

You may also be asking for trouble depending on how brandable that name is. Even though it is a generic name with USA added to it, you could still run into problems.

Another thing you might want to check is if it is a registered trademark. If it is, I would not build your site on that name you chose.

That said, you could risk it, and hope you don't find yourself on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter from their lawyers or a lawsuit. But if their pockets are deep enough, or they hold their name closely, you should expect to receive one. However, that could come next week or next year. But if they sue for damages, you could have to pay them for their estimated lost revenue because of your "confusingly similar" business name & URL.

[chicagohh]

Thanks buckworks & Jenstar -

I went to uspto.gov and could not find any information on them and I can't find anything like tablesusa INC or tablesusa LLC on their web site.

I totally forgot about the non hyphen version. Strange. I have only invested around $500 in logo build up and designs so I could easily change domains. It just puts me behind time wise... and time is money!

Thanks again,

Joe

[Jenstar]

Also be sure to check for tables USA with the space between the words too. Chances are, they don't market themselves with their business name as Tablesusa but rather Tables USA. Won't hurt to double check that version as well.

[chicagohh]

I am likely to go to an attorney for this question, but I would like a bit more information first.

Does anyone know if it is OK to purchase the .NET version of a domain name and sell similar products.

For example, tables.COM sells custom built tables and tables.NET is not in use. I have the opportunity to purchase the .NET version and would sell production tables rather than custom tables. Although, the .COM site may have 1 or 2 production tables hidden somewhere (I could not find any).

I looked around and it seemed that I might be asking for trouble, hence my call to an attorney this evening.

Thanks,

Joe

[Jenstar]

You might be able to get away with it - it depends on how generic the actual word is, because a word such as "tables" is not trademarkable.

Be sure you consult a lawyer who has experience with ONLINE trademark and copyright issues. There are few with any sort of experience in this area, particularly because it is so new. How things work legally in the offline world does not neccessarily apply to how things work in the online world, so you should ideally consult with a lawyer who has had experience with domain name and trademark law as it applies to the internet.