Can I use PHP in domain name?

[nickmanas]

Hello,
Is it legal to use php in domain name for example phpreader, phpgoods etc

Thanks

[RedBar]

Welecome to WebmasterWorld nickmanas

That's an interesting question!

Normally when someone asks something like this I would generally say don't do it simply because you have a doubt yourself, however in this situation would it be up for contention?

Why do I say that? Have you ever visited php.com or php.co.uk? Completely different entities altogether and php.org is for sale!

Whilst checking this out I also found several ranking sites with phpkeyword.com /co.uk etc and one of those is at least 11 years old therefore I would have thought that you should be on pretty safe ground if precedence is anything to go by.

However I am not a lawyer and there is scant information on their site about legalities.

[lucy24]

The first thing that occurred to me is that PHP itself is public domain / open source / whatever the technical term is for a language you don't have to pay for. Now, if you called your site fordinfo dot com or aboutmicrosoft dot com you could be in trouble, because then you're messing with someone's actual trademark.

The second thing that occurred to me is w3schools. The name, I mean. I'm pretty darn sure the w3c consortium has never been happy about the name's existence, but clearly there wasn't a thing they could do about it.

:: detour to abbreviations dot com ::

Oh, right, I thought it sounded familiar. Every time I get mail from the Partnership Health Plan I do a double-take.

[keyplyr]

PHP = Personal Home Page :)

[nickmanas]

Thanks for helping me out here. I think there are many websites that have php word in their domain name like phpclass... or phptech....

Hope if I will also use there will not be any problem although I want to use it for commercial purpose providing web development service.

[edited by: Webwork at 4:18 pm (utc) on Nov 29, 2015]
[edit reason] Whenever in doubt don't "out others" for doing what you are questioning [/edit]