I wish to purchase a domain for a hobby site i'd like to develop. Although this will not be a business i eventually plan to sell advertising space throughout the site.

I just checked the domain against any trademarks with the same name and i found two separate companies/individuals which have it trademarked. So i take it more than one company/individual can have the same trademark? Is this only allowed when the 'goods and services' description are different? Because one of the trademarks has the exact description i wish to use the domain for.

This domain is very expensive and i wouldn't want to lose it to a trademark owner after paying a lot of money for it.

Your purely legal option here is likely to license the name from the trademark holder for use in your web business.

I'm not a lawyer though - and you won't actually get any legal advise here, just opinion and anecdotes. In the legal world, they will be worth exactly what you are paying for them.

:).

-t

Originally posted by EyeSee
Because one of the trademarks has the exact description i wish to use the domain for.
This is exactly what a trademark is used for, to prevent you from using the same name and offering the same or 'too close' services under that name. Often this isn't cut and dry, black and white, however in this case, it seems it may be.

where can you look for trademarks?

http://www.uspto.gov/

This is the link, however they change this every now and then, so I suggest you note the main URL (above):

http://tess.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=bmvdgm.1.1

Thanks for the replies, I guess the best thing for me to do is contact the trademark/servicemark owner and discuss it with them.

are trademarks listed there trademarked just in the US?

I would think so.

I realized that this system times out and you have to log in through the little blue link box at the top of the page to re-enter. Or you can start here:

http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

And look at the top-ish left content for:

Services
SEARCH trademarks (TESS)

Check to see if it's a live or dead. And also if it is abandoned. If your good are different from the other person then you should be able to use the namem, if not just include the .com in the name everwhere you post the name. I think that distinguishes it enough.

Yes it's still Live. How do you find out if it's abandoned?

It will say abandoned in the info if this is the case. Some ass called me up and said I had taken his domain name and he was out of the country and abunch of BS about NSI. He goes on to say his client has the name trademarked and so I say well what is the registered trademark number and he said he didn't know right off hand. I went and looked it up and it had expired well over a year and a half ago. He's simply SOL is all I gotta say. I think he was lying and simply wanted the name I had and expected me to hand it over without questions. Sorry I don't fall for pity scams. Second one in a week!

I'm still doing some research about the terminology but the good thing about registered trademarks is that the person has to define what they use it for so you could simply use it for something different and they are SOL. You gotta front 1,000 buck for any domain name disputes which is nonrefundable I understand so it's pretty much a waste of someone's time unless I'm clearly trying to take advantage of an already well established product name/goods.

Just found this

http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain/notice.cgi?NoticeID=147

This is about brainwash a cafe laundrymat and also answers some very common questions about trademark fair use. There are two ones I found registered after doing a search.

1- interactive multimedia software recorded on CD-ROM and diskettes for purposes of education in the field of self educating language instruction, and workbooks and instructional manuals sold as a unit therewith

2- SOAPS, HAIR LOTION, SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER

Now I registered brainwash.us the other day and do not plan to use the site for either of these purposes so this might actually be a good example of how I can use the name for other purposes other than what people have it registered for.

Something I forgot to mention about TESS (which is mentioned on the link above):

This database may not be complete. One should check the NEWS (http://tess.uspto.gov/webaka/html/news.htm) page to see how current the information actually is.

Be aware: not all trademarks are contained in the US federal register. There are state trademarks, unregistered (common law marks) and foreign marks as well. A mark does not have to be registered to be valid.