Risk in country domains?

Taking country version of a generic English .com domain

[Prominentum]

Let's say, I make a power saving device and example.com is not available. If example.<country> was available and I took it, would the owner of example.com deserve a right to take over my domain name?

[edited by: encyclo at 2:58 am (utc) on Feb. 1, 2009]
[edit reason] switched to example.com [/edit]

[IanTurner]

It would depend on who owns trademark rights in the name in the country in question, and the rules of the registry for that cctld.

[Prominentum]

since the domain name (even in this example) is highly generic, and the .com owner is clearly not (presuminng: cannot be) the trademark owner, is there even a remote chance that the real .com domain owner may gobble up my domain name in future .. considering that we both provide idential offering online?

[IanTurner]

Yes there is a remote chance - after all the generic term 'apple' was trademarked.

[2lame2rank]

As I mentioned in your other thread [webmasterworld.com] you must not pass yourself off, or appear to pass yourself off as the .com site. If your site is unique and the domain name is generic then you have no problem. But don't use an unfamiliar ccTLD in the "wrong" country, if you have a .de then you aim only for Germany, .fr for France, etc. If not then Google geo-targetting will be wrong and end users will be confused.

[tangor]

Generic terms are generally safe. Is there not a branding that can ALSO be applied? Why chance ambiguity between their product/service and yours? OP question includes "make" which seems to indicate some kind of manufacturing... Market YOUR product!