Beasty

Because amost every english word is a trade mark for something - so it would be very difficult to register any domains.

Also, a trade mark is not an absolute monopoly right - it is a right in respect to specific classes of goods and/or services. So orange the telco could not complain about a site called orange.co.uk selling/providing information about citrus fruit.

developdomains

yep fair point. could they not do a "warning" system then, so that if Joe Bloggs tries to register say vista.co.uk (which as we all know is MS's new software but could also be about, say pictures/photography etc) then it would display a warning message that says "we have checked the Patent/Trademark databse and there could be a case for copy right infringement should continue to register this domain" etc, etc,etc:

just thinking out loud really.......................

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elkanet

If you need some help on this
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lookupuk

What about if the domain is in the UK, and the trademark is registered in the USA only?

Does it matter where YOU are, or where the domain is?

Also, what if they haven't registered a trademark and just have a known website?

What about if you have a totally unrelated site to the TM you are close to, or typo-ing? isn't it only a problem if you are a competing site?

woopwoop

I've registered a UK trademark and have a European Registered Design - so have a little knowledge of the process and the legalities - but not everything or even close to it.

One thing that people misunderstand is that the following exist and both give protection:

1. Registered Trademark
2. Unregistered Trademark

Both give protection. Registering a mark helps by giving a confirmable date by which you had the mark.

I think this depends on a lot.
Do they have any right (registered or even unregistered) to the mark in the UK? Thank could be do they have a website that has UK customers? Do they ship to the UK? Do they have a UK/EU/Worldwide trademark? Even if they don't have one registered they still may have the right to unregistered trademark protection, and therefore the right to those who infringe/pass-off.


Only in so much as what I said above. Do they have any right in the location that you are?

They may still have unregistered trademark right and protection.

Not necessarily.
You may be infringing their right by having a 'confusingly similar' name (including typos). And they may be able to demonstrate clear bad faith by you potentially profiting by confusing their customers.

There are cases where your businesses may be completely different, and you could have the same name, and there might not be any problem concerning trademarks - depends on the situation.

There are also rules on what words/phrases can be registered as trademarks (all interesting stuff, see http://www.patent.gov.uk)

For example 'Orange Mobile' can be registered as they are 2 unrelated words, joined to form something unique. So it makes for a strong trademark.

However, 'Orange Juice' or 'Orange Fruit Shop' are more questionable and probably couldn't be registered as trademarks in my opinion because the words are all related and so it would make it impossible for consumers to differentiate this brand or company from another in another part of the country using the same/similar name or phrase...

Wow... this turned into an essay!

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Nikki

But there are also inventive trade mark ie kodak. Can u make a database for these trade mark? This is because even use Kodak for citrus fruit still show abusive registration anyway. I think only these groups of words have some monopolisation in itself. correct me if I'm wrong

it is jurisdiction problem but it doesn't seem impossible to get down the domain name in UK since the Internet is worldwide accessible. If I remember it right, it is called long arm jurisdiction.

it is called a common law trade mark or they might acquire secondary meaning and have a protection even if the mark hasn't been registered anyway

no, u will be in trouble since u typo it and if u r totally unconnected to the TM, u need to prove this in court or DRS which is very risky to lose the domain name and might be some damage cost or penalty fee with it.

Newbie, since it is typo. I think u should hand in. Microsoft already announced its plan. See http://www.ag-ip-news.com/GetArticle...D=4145&lang=en It will not do the DRS. It will only bring the dispute to court. So far there are more than three individual needs to go to English court because of this and many more around the world. If you delete it and no one picks it up or even someone do, u still might have to go to the court anyway as one of defendant and it is more expensive. These people know exactly what to do and they good at it. Above all, they have money to use in legal case.

Good luck

Beasty

Nikki - you almost tempt me into saying a bit more - but I would be grateful if when you quote me and then someone else you made it clear who was whom.

Kodak - I know where it comes from - but I always think of kodiak - which is not exclsive.

Diageo is exclusive - Smirnoff is not. Examples obviously not chosen at random.

Nikki

ic

i will try to quote names too but you know it requires more patient to go back n forth to edit the post for quoting, right? This is my lazy version, sorry

Re trade mark, still, there are some that have exclusiveness, right?. Then I still insist that it is better for the domainers and trade mark owners if Nominet use database of the IPO to make its own database that prevents some exclusive trade marks from being registered as domain names including obvious typo like micr0s0ft.co.uk too. (I hope that is not your domain, Newbie ) This way, the domainers are safe from being threaten and some trade mark owners do not have to spend time and money threaten domainers. Just hope they both can live happily without fighting each other.

I will send u email definitely but let me gather my questions first; They seem to be a lot