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Domain Name Trademarks
As your Internet business grows, the value of your domain name increases. The issue of a domain name trademark should move to the top of your list. You need to guard against unscrupulous competitors that may try to incorporate your domain name in their meta tags to obtain search engine rankings under your name. If you have a domain name trademark, you can go after these individuals and compel the search engines to remove their listings.
What Is A Trademark?
A trademark is a distinctive item that is used to identify a logo, product, device, package or service. The trademark identifies the item as being provided by a particular firm. To protect these items you can obtain a mark from the patent and trademark office that prohibits others from trying to gain economic advantage from your mark.
Domain Name
The patent and trademark office views domain names in a unique way. The office views the "http://www" element as a part of the file transfer process, not your domain name. The ".com", ".net", etc., designations are considered top-level domain identifiers and are also disregarded for the purpose of a domain name trademark. For example, our domain name is http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com. If we submitted the domain name for registration, only the "sandiegobusinesslawfirm" portion would be considered for a mark.
Locators Cannot Be Registered
A domain name is a locator for file pages. When you type in your domain name, a server locates and displays files. If a domain is used solely for this purpose, it will not be granted a mark. Instead, the domain name must be incorporated into the site. For instance, Amazon is recognized as an online bookstore and the site actually has the word "Amazon" on every page. Since "Amazon.com" is more than a locator, Amazon can apply for and receive a trademark. If Amazon used the domain name, bookstore.com, the company would be able to register "Amazon", but not "bookstore."
Generic and Descriptive Terms
Domain names that are generic or descriptive in nature cannot be registered because they fail to designate a distinctive product or service. For example, "sandiegobusinesslawfirm" is comprised of generic terms and describes who and where we are, to wit, a San Diego business law firm. This domain name cannot be trademarked. The same result would occur with bank.com, book.com, advice.com, etc.
You may be thinking, "What about 'Coke?' "Coke" is a trademarked term because it is a distinctive term for a soft drink product. It just so happens that a brilliant marketing plan has convinced most people to refer to soft drinks as "cokes", even if they actually prefer another brand!
Trademarks are an important factor in protecting your Internet business. Armed with a trademark, you can keep competitors from pulling traffic off the search engines when people search for your site.
Richard Chapo is with http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com - a law firm providing legal advice to California businesses. This article is for general education purposes and does not address every facet of the subject matter. Nothing in this article creates an attorney-client relationship.
ICANN or I CANNot that is the Question
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Its Raining ccTLDs
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Instant Traffic Using Expired Domains
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Information on Domain Names
It's been two years since John started his online business. He is very much satisfied with his current web host whose services he acquired one year ago. Today John is relaxing in his chair and thinking about the initial days when he spent many hours on the Internet collecting information related to web hosting. Like him there are many John's out there who are in search of information everyday, visiting this and that website hoping to find the most illuminating advice. The problem is that common topics of interest can be found on most of the websites whereas other relevant issues are not dealt with everywhere. This article is going to touch on one of those areas: various concerns related with domain names.
.info Freedom Frenzy
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Warning: Your Domain Name Could Infringe On Trademark Rights!
If you have or are about to purchase a domain name, YOU could be in trouble and you don't even know it yet...
8 Tips for Choosing a Domain Name
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What is a Domain Name and Why Would I Want One?
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Making Money with Expired Domains
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10 Things to Ponder when Picking Your .com
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Why to Register md-Domains?
What is .md?
Cheap and Easy Domain Name Registration
Just like any business, your identity is very important. On the World Wide Web, your domain name is your identity. Of course, you can opt for a subdomain name that comes with many free web hosting like http://yourdomain.netfirms.com. But if you are serious about being successful on the Internet, you have to get your own domain name, like http://www.yourdomain.com. Top 10 reasons to have your own domain name Please note that all domain names listed in italic are ficticious: It is cheap and easy to get your own domain name (less than $15/year in most cases) You own the name (as long as you pay the annual fee) You are not dependent on one web hosting company to let you use a subdomain, or worse, a subdirectory Your web site promotion effort does not go to waste if you change your web hosting company (because the domain name remains the same regardless of what host you use) The domain name can be optimized to your business, like www.best-used-cars.com Your web site is more professional The domain name is easier to remember. For instance, www.best-used-cars.com rather than www.geocities.com/web/public/business/auto/best-used-cars/ It is much easier to sell a web site with its own domain name A good domain name can be an asset It is cheap and easy to get your own domain name (this one is worth repeating) How to register for a domain name Please note that all domain names listed in italic are ficticious: Think of appropriate name for that suit the theme of your web site. For instance, an online dating service may find domain name like www.loveconnection.com, more desirable than say www.best-used-cars.com Search for domain name availability. Every domain name registrar will provide you with a search tool; although some search tools are better than other. You will have to do a lot of searches because a lot of domain name that you wish to have is probably already owned by someone else (very common). As you come across available domain names that you like, jot them down. Keep searching until you have about 3-5 different domain names to choose from. Choose a domain name and register it at a domain name ICANN Accredited registrar. Other factors to consider Initially, you will want the .com version of your domain name. If your internet business takes off, you may want to consider registering other first-level domains (i.e., .net) of your domain name and perhaps even similar domain names to prevent mistaken identity Use domain name registrar that will register the domain under your name under all contacts information (perhaps with the exception of technical contact). It should be clear that you own the domain name. Use domain name registrar that provide good online account support. Use automatic domain name renewal if you are planning to own the domain name long-term