How important is it to secure other domain extensions if a company will be registered and trademarked?

I'm interesting in paying several hundred dollars for a .com that is intended to be used as a company web site, and fortunately, the .net/.org/.us/etc. are available. Basically all domain extensions (gTLD & ccTLD's) besides .com is available.

Is it a must to register the .net/.org/.us extensions as well and pay to renew them each year? Or is it a waste of money?

If you have long-term plans for the domain names, especially if they're for a long-
term venture, then it makes sense to register any and all variations possible. An
ounce of prevention, after all, is better than a pound of cure. ;)

How important is it to secure other domain extensions if a company will be registered and trademarked?

I'm interesting in paying several hundred dollars for a .com that is intended to be used as a company web site, and fortunately, the .net/.org/.us/etc. are available. Basically all domain extensions (gTLD & ccTLD's) besides .com is available.

Is it a must to register the .net/.org/.us extensions as well and pay to renew them each year? Or is it a waste of money?

Well, you should definitely take the .org .net .biz .info .name extensions.

Then consider the country extensions depending on your company's international scope.

How much money do you have? How many countries and TLDs are there?

Imho, it is necessary to register the "most used" domain extensions.. but you will literally run out of money before you run out of country code TLDs to register.

If you're talking about a Co in the USA take the ones mentioned PLUS the .US
CC (Country Codes) are getting more popular everyday.
Especially since the .Eu came out.
People with Bizzz's in the USA will want to have the .Us cc

Also the .Us domains are going up in price % wise faster than any other
TLD for the last year.

You're talking a Company and less than $60.00 to be able to
take a year to make up their mind as to what to do..
Makes NO sense spending the time worring and wondering
about it now for such a petty amount of $$$$$

I wouldn't get any foreign TLDs tho unless I did Bizzz in that Country,
just the Com,Net,info,biz,org & .Us! And you're looking at
less than $50.00 there!

..

If you have a brandable name that is unique, then yes.
If it is a keyword domain like 'register.com' or 'health.com' then imo no.

My tld's are com/net/org/info i dont really bother with any other tld's like us, name, biz, mobi and what have you. Well except maybe the .mobi if it takes off in the future.

My 2 cents.

Edit: Oh yeah and I'd pick up the domain at your cctld extension as well.

It depends on how much you will rely on the website to make money. Will it be your sole source of business? Do you have plans of it being a widely recognized company at some point in the future? If so, then it would be wise to register all of them. Anytime a domain name gets popular people rush to go register some version of it or a different extension in order to build a site that will generate traffic.

If its a unique name and not just collection of words from dictionary I wouldn't register anything more than .com and possibly if its multi word domain then hyphenated version (but very rarely) . No point of wasting money in the beginning. If anyone uses same domain but .net or whatever else for something else so what, if someone uses for same thing that you do - you sue them. If the domain name is important enough then you can afford to sue anyone not to use it, if you can't afford to sue them its not important enough. You shouldn't try to control everything in the world. Get only thing what you need. The rest only makes money for registrars. And no one cares that some similar name is used for something else under different TLD, you name is ****.com - so forget the rest.

"if someone uses for same thing that you do - you sue them.

That would probably only work if they are in the same state as you or unless you've federally trademarked the name.

If the domain name is important enough then you can afford to sue anyone not to use it, if you can't afford to sue them its not important enough.
Interesting philosophy. I ALMOST agree to that.

If the domain name is important enough then you can afford to sue anyone not to use it, if you can't afford to sue them its not important enough.

If the domains important and you can afford to sue you can afford to register it


You shouldn't try to control everything in the world.

That makes no sense
Your not going to register a domain to control the use of it
but instead sue anyone who does use it!

Same thing!


Secondly id like to see you try and sue me for registering another extension of a domain you allready have

It would be a good idea to get off Trademarks in this thread as it could
go on for the next two years with replys which will do nothing by confuse
and misinform everyone.
TradeMarks vary as to what can be enforced in every country, not even
bringing into account a Trademark being used by another Biz and one
being used as a Domain name have a different set of rules.
Even what you're using the Domain for is taken into consideration by
an arbatrator....
There's a Law Firm in France called Cabinet Dreyfus & associés
Owned by Nathalie Dreyfus specializing in European Trademark, Patents
Who was one of the founders of and Panelist in the Wipo Center.
When you get a few spare minutes check out WIPO and you'll get an idea
of the can of worms TM threads open.

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/

.

Well, you should definitely take the .org .net .biz .info .name extensions.

Then consider the country extensions depending on your company's international scope.

I agree. I would at least get the .org, .net and .com version.

Any business should definitely have .com and .net. If the website is the main marketing method, spend a little more and get .org, and your country code, then if you feel like spending a little more, it doesn't hurt to get biz, info, and name as well.

After that, depends on whether you have the need for other extensions, or you just want to spend more money. ;)

I agree. I would at least get the .org, .net and .com version.

The .org is no biggie but the US cc which is .Us is the fastest growing
Tld of all the US TLDs.

Since the .Eu hit the market everyone in Europe is getting one and
Country Codes are getting more in demand, and they'll overtake
all but the .coms in a year or two in the US.
People want to show where they're located..
:cool:

I'd say the relevance of .net has long been exaggerated. Unless your company is computer/Internet related, .net is equally redundant like .org. But then we're talking about SMALL CHANGE here, so if you FEEL the need, just register them all for the peace of mind.

And of course there is the other can of worms regarding domain names that are typos or variations on your primary name.

Honestly, I have looked more at variations on the primary name rather than the TLD. I've also noticed several times that a .com that I wanted is available but the .cn was taken. These were for names that made sense in English but I guess they either made way more sense in Chinese or those who registered the .cn just did not care about the .com - this is what I find interesting.

BB

Does anyone know what is the legal position for the person who registers another extension of the same name ? It all seems a little odd, if someone has a company XYZ.com and you register XYZ.net or nowadays XYZ.mobi or .tv is this allowed, if not what's the point of having all these different extensions if only the original .com company has the right to register them ? Just a question from aconfused individual.

Well me no lawyer, not even on tv. But, this is what I heard.

Say there is a company called Nissan Cars and they have nissan.com but not .net.

Now there is a company called Nissan Noodles and they want nissan.com. Tough tookies for the Noodle people because because the car co beat em to it. But the noodle co can get nissan.net or .org and let's say they get the .net. Later the car co decides it wants the .net also and tries to take it from the noodle co. It is not going to happen. Also note that Trademark stuff has to specify what market segments they will apply to, hence Nissan Car and Nissan Noodles. (yeah yeah it really is Nissin noodles)

Now let's say squatter dude buys nissan.org or mobi, or .etc. This is where it gets complicated. You'd figure the squatter would lose but in this day and age, I wonder how well the "hey, if they wanted it, why didn't they buy it" defense works? I mean if company XYZblahblah left XYZblahblah.us or XYZblahblah.eu unclaimed in those name spaces for a reasonable period and then squatter dude picks em up, I'd say fair game. Now if squatter dude stuffed the pre-bid and grabbed the .eu, I'd say not fair.

I also wonder what happens if today, speculator dude buys a domain name and a couple of years later a new company says "hey we want that domain, you have to give it to us because we legally have that company name." I think they are out of luck, especially if you bought the domain name before they existed and even if not, how about the "why didn't you buy it earlier if you wanted it?"

I guess most of the problems nowadays are from domain names that resemble or contain a trademark and the business activity of these "close/contain" domains is closely related to the trademarked ones. If nissan.org is bought by a 3rd company they could be in trouble if they compete with the car or noodle co but not if they make jig saws.

Let's say some kid got wii.com before wii video games existed and builds up a really fun personal site. Then the mega corp decides it just has to name a new product line wii. They can try to bully the kid by spinning up unfair but expensive legal action. But if the kid wants to fight back, the kid should win.

BB

Very good Bob, thanks. It's almost clear now. How about if some dude thought a co. with a made-up name such as yakutari.com was cool and that co. became famous and the dude noticed they had only registered .com so he went out and registered yakutari.tv and did nothing with it, would he breaking any law? It seems to me yakutari might argue he is but if we pursue that logic to its conclusion then no-one can register anything except the yakutari guys. Have their not been cases like this before where some guy was just sitting on the .net or .org of a .com company waiting to see what happened? All hypothetical of course.

It also depends on your intent for the domain.
Try to sell it to the TM holder and ya F*cked.

Or in a case like Sony.anything if you're pushing electronic products ya
have a prob but if you have a site selling Flowers and Sony hit ya with
a C & D and you went to Arbatration with it at say WICO you have a good
chance to keep it.
In a way TMs in real life and TMs on the world wide net are looked at
from different views and unless it's a flagrent violation and you've
made a good buck using the domain which they can sue you for I
wouldn't worry about it..

Well me no lawyer, not even on tv. But, this is what I heard.

Say there is a company called Nissan Cars and they have nissan.com but not .net.

Now there is a company called Nissan Noodles and they want nissan.com. Tough tookies for the Noodle people because because the car co beat em to it. But the noodle co can get nissan.net or .org and let's say they get the .net. Later the car co decides it wants the .net also and tries to take it from the noodle co. It is not going to happen. Also note that Trademark stuff has to specify what market segments they will apply to, hence Nissan Car and Nissan Noodles. (yeah yeah it really is Nissin noodles)

Now let's say squatter dude buys nissan.org or mobi, or .etc. This is where it gets complicated. You'd figure the squatter would lose but in this day and age, I wonder how well the "hey, if they wanted it, why didn't they buy it" defense works? I mean if company XYZblahblah left XYZblahblah.us or XYZblahblah.eu unclaimed in those name spaces for a reasonable period and then squatter dude picks em up, I'd say fair game. Now if squatter dude stuffed the pre-bid and grabbed the .eu, I'd say not fair.

I also wonder what happens if today, speculator dude buys a domain name and a couple of years later a new company says "hey we want that domain, you have to give it to us because we legally have that company name." I think they are out of luck, especially if you bought the domain name before they existed and even if not, how about the "why didn't you buy it earlier if you wanted it?"

I guess most of the problems nowadays are from domain names that resemble or contain a trademark and the business activity of these "close/contain" domains is closely related to the trademarked ones. If nissan.org is bought by a 3rd company they could be in trouble if they compete with the car or noodle co but not if they make jig saws.

Let's say some kid got wii.com before wii video games existed and builds up a really fun personal site. Then the mega corp decides it just has to name a new product line wii. They can try to bully the kid by spinning up unfair but expensive legal action. But if the kid wants to fight back, the kid should win.

BB

Do you think I'm abusing their TM rights with these domains??
4wii.net
1wii.net
Or how about
ChicagoBearsSite.com
ElvisLivesOnline.com
BenGoogled.com
YahooBuckeroo.com

:cool:

Do you think I'm abusing their TM rights with these domains??
4wii.net
1wii.net
Or how about
ChicagoBearsSite.com
ElvisLivesOnline.com
BenGoogled.com
YahooBuckeroo.com

:cool:

Sorry Chitown, I could only speculate and even then I'd have to first ask how you are using these domain names. I also don't know how strongly the various trademark holders protect their marks. Da bears and Elvis look pretty dangerous because it could be said they are easily mistaken as official sites.
Now if those bears are in the Chicago Zoo vs football players...

There's some other people on this forum who know more - perhaps they'll see this and comment soon.

Sorry,

BB

Remember I am NOT a lawyer, here, real life or on tv.

in answer to the original thread question, for the sake of the REG FEE, i would
register other country domains

Do you think I'm abusing their TM rights with these domains??
4wii.net
1wii.net
Or how about
ChicagoBearsSite.com
ElvisLivesOnline.com
BenGoogled.com
YahooBuckeroo.com

:cool:

You can't tell just by looking at a list of domains. You need to analyze your intent when you acquired the names and your actions with what your doing with them. If you are deemed to be infringing on somebody elses trademark, you'll lose any WIPO action.

You can't tell just by looking at a list of domains. You need to analyze your intent when you acquired the names and your actions with what your doing with them. If you are deemed to be infringing on somebody elses trademark, you'll lose any WIPO action.

Exactly. I have read through quite a few WIPO decisions, which make very interesting reading, and this is exactly what they consider in their deliberations.

but if you have a site selling Flowers and Sony hit ya with
a C & D and you went to Arbatration with it at say WICO you have a good
chance to keep it.
There have been trademark court cases where FAMOUS brands have successfully stepped across their areas of interest and killed off unrelated businesses. And yes, COURT CASES, so don't just expect a C & D letter.

In a way TMs in real life and TMs on the world wide net are looked at from different views
What makes you think that way? Mind elaborating a bit more?

Well this is true, nameslave. If I were a trademark owner who couldn't win a WIPO case, I'd take them to court too. Try to bankrupt them with legal fees until they surrendered.

PS: sonyflowers.com is already taken :)

I prefer .com & .net. Sometimes when the domain is really important then I register .info too.

If the business targets the local market then I also prefer the local country domain. ( .in / co.in in my case )

Is it imporant to secure other domain extensions?

If the dot com you wish to pickup is really worth several hundreds then I suppose it must be a good name and you may lose the other extensions in the future. Losing the other extensions should not be a problem unless they affect your business in some way.

If you are not sure what to do I would advice you to register atleast the more common ones like .net, org, biz, info, cctld etc. A handful of extensions will probably cost you less than $100 a year. Consider it as part of your business operations cost and go ahead with registration them.