Can anyone lose a Domain Name?

[Dman01]

Long time listener, first time caller…

I have a question about domain names and trademarks.

Like most of you, I have a domain name (registered a few years ago). No one ever had this domain name before us to the best of my knowledge. The website is not business related - nothing is bought or sold and there is no profit is made from the site.

There is no trademark registered on the name and since it is not used for commerce, I’m not sure if this is even possible.

In any case, would it be possible for someone to register our domain name as their own trademark, then use this trademark to take our domain name?

Or, during the trademark application process, would it be revealed that someone else (us) already has the name as a registered domain (for several years) and thus the application is denied?

Thanks!

[rogerd]

The fact that you have had the domain in active use makes it less likely that someone could trademark it later and demand that you give it up. One example that comes to mind is Altavista.com, which was actually owned by someone other that the Altavista search engine. They tried to get it for years, and finally coughed up a few mil to buy it.

That's not to say a deep-pockets firm couldn't just litigate you into giving it up, of course. I have one site that I'm initiating a trademark app for just to nail it down even tighter.