* I intend to use this website for affiliate marketing(Making money from it)
* I don't want to get screwed up.
* It's a 4 word domain name, existing site has 'centre' in it while I have 'center' in my domain.
Suggestions please
I don't know if those 4 words are trademarked. Is there any way to find out..
Or should I ask that website owner if I can operate?
if the name is not registered
Will that work since it's US whereas "centre" is international English?
I third tangor...check before going any further.
I searched in Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) no record found for centre or center. The existing is a US site. My Site name is <snip>. Thought of using this for affiliate ads. Consulting a lawyer will cost more than the cost of the domain name.
I read somewhere if purpose of my website is entirely different than the trademark owners, e.g. if they sell eggs and I sell bags then it is fine.
Should I seek existing owner's permission?
[edited by: Webwork at 5:56 pm (utc) on Sep. 8, 2009]
[edit reason] Please, per Domain Forum Charter, NO Domain Specifics [/edit]
This is really a grey area; you may want to look at cases in the past to see if they are similar to yours.
TRADEMARK ISSUES AND OTHER LEGAL ADVICE:
- Posting domain name details is a violation of the Charter of this forum, yet, such details are what competent legal counsel would insist on knowing before offering advice.
- There are hundreds of jurisdictions, each with their own variation of intellectual property and trademark law.
- Statements made in public forums can and will be used against their maker.
- Trademark holders can search domain forums for threads triggered by their communications. Declaring "I was just contacted by a lawyer about a domain . . " can signal "This thread was started by the person you just called." See #3.
- Money judgments for cybersquatting, trademark violations and other intellectual property wrongs can bankrupt people and companies.
- Threads that involve personal legal or trademark issues inevitably lead to the same conclusion: "We are neither qualified nor sufficiently informed to offer competent legal advice. Talk to a lawyer".
For these and other good reasons, from this point forward [webmasterworld.com], the Domain Forum will no longer host threads related to any individual's or any company's domain trademark issues. The only place to seek opinions concerning specific legal matters, such as the ability of any party to assert trademark rights or defend against such a claim, is a law office in the proper jurisdiction.
Generalized discussions about legal issues not specific to a member's circumstances, discussions about finding or using authoritative government sources (USPTO.gov, Patent.gov.uk, WIPO, etc.), or discussions concerning significant WIPO, ICANN or court decision are proper material for discussion.
If someone posts a legal issue thread, wherein they state that they have been contacted by legal counsel for "the other side" the only advice that should be given is to strongly encourage the person to stop posting details in public forums and to immediately seek a private consultation with a lawyer.
But if these domains are illegal
They are not illegal per se, it's just that if you choose one of these names and a trademark holder sees it they may understandably get very protective about it.
This is precisely why many do not consider more TLDs as a good idea since many companies find themselves buying new extensions simply protecting against typo squatters and rip-off sites etc.
It's a Royal P.I.T.A.
dont't know whether they have domain name trademark
to
my website is entirely different than the trademark owners
I would say it looks like you know whats going on just want someone to tell ya it is ok. I will tell ya this if you do go ahead with the plan and you already know it's trademarked I hope you can stand the pain, because what your really trying to do is get typo traffic off the other site to yours and I can smell trouble.
In most cases, it would be foolish to invest time and money in a domain name that could be taken from you. "Centre" is merely a non-US spelling - the meaning of the two spellings is usually taken to be the same (unlike "meter" and "metre" for instance).
If the two spellings had different meanings, then you might be able to make a good argument that the two domain names were meaningfully different but that is not the case here. Half an hour with an online thesaurus would probably be time well-spent.
Kaled.
Now I feel it's better to avoid trouble than inviting it.
I submitted a message to that website asking if I can operate with this domain name.
If they have problem with my domain, I will give up my domain.
Thanks for all your advise.
Is nothing more than an invitation to "cease and desist". And all that follows from that.
"Dear website...I have registered a name similar to yours. You can purchase it for x-dollars."
Is also an invitation to "cease and desist".
These are no win situtations, and you have paid the registration fee anyway. (Loss)
The other can of worms opened is putting up the site THEN having a DCMA (right or wrong) applied and the headaches which follow... (Potential greater loss)
Long and short, if you have to ask the question you already know the answer. Life (and funds) are too short to do wrong...unless the intent is to do wrong for as long as you can until shut down.
My opinion, take it for what it is worth...
