Nonetheless, let's assume that EXAMPLE.com is indeed a well established website about usual pets--dog, cats, birds, etc.
Hypothetically, I really want to create a website and name it OHEXAMPLE.com by adding the word "Oh" for my own particular reason. However, my website is not about usual pets; it's about UNusual pets such as lizards and snakes. (Yes, I know they are becoming 'usual' more and more. But, for now, we'll just distinguish them as 'unusual' for this discussion's sake.)
EXAMPLE.com does not provide services for lizards and snakes. No articles nor pages on lizards and snakes. So, each website is focusing on totally different subjects.
The only similarity is the domain names.
EXAMPLE vs. OHEXAMPLE
dogs/cats/birds vs. lizards/snakes
So. what do you think? Perfectly safe or maybe not? I know what the lawyers would say. They'll say something like... whether a name is infringing or not depends on a lot of factors... must perform due diligence... blah blah....
Yes, an expert attorney's judgment is the one that should count ultimately. But, I am really interested to hear what you guys would have to say. Lawyers are expensive. ;-)
[edited by: buckworks at 11:12 am (utc) on May 17, 2009]
[edit reason] Please use "example.com" - it will never be owned [/edit]
You have specified no desire for legal advice (good thing! We can't do that!) but have asked for an opinion. Which in my case is personal:
Sounds like your lovely pets are cold blooded so why not come up with a domain that embraces that rather than scrape, perhaps gently, a present domain?
And adding something in FRONT of a present domain is probably not likely to have the result desired... that's not a typo of the existing where sucking their juice gives some...
A totally different and perhaps creative domain name is the way to go, but I wanted to use a particular idiomatic expression that is already in use. So, I was a little curious if adding something to the expression and creating a website that serves adequately different purpose could make it safe.
Search for "oh example" (with quotes). If plenty of results are returned, indicating that it is a common expression, you should be safe (unless the other website owner has deep pockets) however, without knowing the specifics, it's impossible to give reliable advice.
Kaled.
