Ultimitely, it depends upon the actual domain and the market that both you and the buyer are after. If the domain name is generic (doesn't reflect your market) then it really doesn't matter.
bcolflesh - What do I need to do to avoid a UDRP problem?
Maybe I'll just tell him he can have it for $1000 and no less. I would like to build that store.
bcolflesh - What do I need to do to avoid a UDRP problem?
Don't use someone else's mark in bad faith - the original poster was suggesting that someone made the offer to you as a prelude to a dispute - that may not be the case at all, but it is one of the things they need to show that they made a "good-faith" effort to acquire the domain from you.
Trademark protection can be enforced even for words and phrases not officially registered. This is known as a common law trademark. You can still lose a domain for infringing one of these.
And of course there are trademarks in countries other than the US that you might infringe upon.
Your best bet is just to use Google for the word or phrase as well as special keyword terms for the field you wnat to use it in. If someone else is using it for a noncompeting field, don't worry about it, that's not an infringement. If someone is using it and they are using it as a name for a business doing the same thing, either don;t get the name or use it for something else.
Not that it's worth it, given the asking price here, but trademark.com offers a "do your own search" service that includes several options beyond USPTO.
But if you use your domain name in trade, you are claiming your "mark"... trade-mark. Just put a "TM" next to the domain name, even without the .com at the end, as that publicly states that you are claiming it as "your" mark for some sort of trade (product or service). This is not legal advice, of course, (I'm not an attorney!), and there are subtleties on how you should and should not refer to your "mark" (i.e. don't use it as a verb).
I used to live in a really small country ( pop 300,000 ) and every day our legal pages part of the newspaper was full of such advance registrations ..frequently for products that companies probably would never ever sell in that country ..they did it "just in case" ...
So puleez stop saying put TM after your name ...
Apart from any other consideration ..if you do this and it turns out that actually your great idea for a name was already "trademarked" in your juristiction by someone else ..you risk that you and your descendants get sued into oblivion ..
Thats the second time I see this post "put a TM after your name " ..You can't! You have to have registered your name or whatever as a "TRADEMARK" in at least one juristiction before you have the right to use this suffix..And there is absolutely nothing to stop someone else registering in another juristiction if you haven't already done so ...
When can I use the trademark symbols TM, SM and ®?Any time you claim rights in a mark, you may use the "TM" (trademark) or "SM" (service mark) designation to alert the public to your claim, regardless of whether you have filed an application with the USPTO. However, you may use the federal registration symbol "®" only after the USPTO actually registers a mark, and not while an application is pending. Also, you may use the registration symbol with the mark only on or in connection with the goods and/or services listed in the federal trademark registration.
Even under USA rules ..what does that give if two people both put the TM after their name ...how are they gonna sort out who has the best claim if nothing was ever filed anywhere?
Always go see Notary public when you do this?
Rely on the wayback machine for the net?
See who is bigger?
What happens if ..as in the case I postulated ..you write TM without checking the legal registry first ( dumbass I know but that is 99.9% of the species ) and the real owner of the TM comes after you ...?
Is terminal stupidity a defence in a US or other court of law?
Ps ..for a 100$ I wouldn't sell anyone any name that they asked for specially not something you could build a store around ..
Apart from The USA isn't the world ..and I don't mean that you personally were implying this ( because you do make the distinction ) but there is a lot of that way of posting here ...
Even under USA rules ..what does that give if two people both put the TM after their name ...how are they gonna sort out who has the best claim if nothing was ever filed anywhere?Always go see Notary public when you do this?
Rely on the wayback machine for the net?
See who is bigger?
Again, the FAQ points out that registering your trademark will give you certain rights or benefits not entailed by simply staking a claim with TM.
What happens if ..as in the case I postulated ..you write TM without checking the legal registry first ( dumbass I know but that is 99.9% of the species ) and the real owner of the TM comes after you ...?
HOWEVER - I believe that if you utilize TM, and someone else applies for and is granted a registration for the same mark at a later date, you can have their registration overturned/voided/revoked.
Is terminal stupidity a defence in a US or other court of law?
Ps ..for a 100$ I wouldn't sell anyone any name that they asked for specially not something you could build a store around ..
[edited by: john_k at 11:00 am (utc) on July 16, 2004]
