Protecting intellectual property rights should be a critical step for any business˳ With an online business, protecting a domain name is all the more critical˳
Nothing is more aggravating than having someone infringe upon your domain name˳ The question for many sites, then, is how to go about protecting the domain˳ Filing for a trademark is one of the more popular and effective methods, but it is important to understand there are some issues that can come up˳
First and foremost, a domain name may only be trademarked if it is more than just an address pointing people to a site˳ This is often shown by matching the domain name to the actual name of the business and then incorporating it into the page of the site˳ Let’s look at a classic example˳
Google is obviously a distinct trademark˳ The title “Google” is a trademarkable domain for two reasons˳ First, it is distinct˳ Second, it is both the domain name and the name of the business˳ Let’s assume Google was located at a different domain˳ Say the domain was se3598xeifp[dot]com˳ This new domain would not be trademarkable because it did nothing more than point the viewer to the site in question˳ The phrase “Google” still would˳
Another area that causes some confusion is the suffix of the domain˳ The suffix is the ending, usually com or net˳ Can you register a domain and include these suffixes? Many are surprised to learn that it is fairly difficult to do so˳ Why? Well, none of us have any exclusive rights to the “com”, “net” or other suffixes out there˳ As such, the Trademark Office tends to dislike allowing their inclusion in marks˳ It can be done, but you should expect to wrestle with them over it˳
A final area of some confusion has to do with geographic descriptions˳ If you use a domain with a city, state or country in it, you are going to have problems˳ The Trademark Office does not allow people to poach upon municipalities or other defined areas˳ Sorry, but you can’t register NewYorkCity[dot]˳com˳
At the end of the day, trademarking your domain name makes absolute senses if you can meet the relevant requirements˳ Said protection can be a powerful tool in helping you fight off third parties trying to poach on your name and reputation˳
Source by https://ezinearticles˳com/?Issues-With-Trademarking-Your-Domain-Name&id=620922
