There are legal ways for you to stop another company from using your trademark. Maintain Your Rights - If your domain name has a trademark, the URL has protection under the USPTO law.The domain should function as a "source indicator." It must convey to whoever sees the URL what products or services are behind the name. For example, you can't use generic words in your trademarked domain name. Note that your domain name must follow USPTO rules. Trademarking your domain name is an important part of protecting your intellectual property. You don't want someone else's domain that is identical or even similar to yours to confuse, or in this case offend, your audience. Hasbro won on the basis of trademark dilution, saying that the domain undermined Hasbro's own trademark and confused customers. They had to sue for the domain name, as it belonged to an, ahem, adult entertainment company using the same name. Take Hasbro Games, the creators of the famous board game Candy Land. Why are Trademark Domain Names Important?ĭomain name disputes can arise, so having protection under USPTO law is beneficial. If you trademark your domain name, your domain will have protection under the law. It simply identifies your website and will not prevent others from using the name. Registering a domain with a service like GoDaddy or Bluehost does not give you trademark rights. To protect your brand from infringement, you may want to trademark your domain name in addition to a logo, slogan, or design. Of course, domain names are more than just addresses, since they can be selected by the "addressee" and are usually closely associated with a particular service or product. Without the domain name, a computer would have no idea where to look for a web page, and e-mail routers would not be able to send email. In other words, merely reserving a domain name isn't enough. Court of Appeals recently ruled that a business must use its domain name to sell goods or services in order to protect the name - even if a competitor starts to use the name after you registered the domain. Updated July 13, 2020: What is a Trademark Domain Name?
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