Trademark Domain Names
Should you trademark domain names? Absolutely. There are a couple of reasons trademarking domain names makes sense for any online business.
Registering Domain Trademarks
A trademark is simply something used in commerce to identify a product, group of products or brand of one business from those of another. A classic example of this is the trademark for "Coke" compared to the "Pepsi" mark. When you hear or read either of these words, you know what soda they stand for in the local grocery store. This is exactly what a trademark is meant to convey in the simplest of terms.
When it comes to a website, one runs the risk of having people encroach on your "virtual turf". This often occurs when a competitor registers a domain that is strikingly similar to your own, but slightly different. The use of such a domain is undoubtedly confusing to consumers and will hurt your business. How do you fight back? If you are able to trademark your domain names, you are in the catbirds seat when it comes to pursuing competitors that are using similar domains. Depending on the nature of the mark, you are presumed to be the rightful owner and significant damages can be rendered in your favor if they are found to infringe upon your mark. At a minimum, you can also bring an action under the ICANN arbitration proceedings to have the competing domains transferred to you or terminated.
You might be surprised to learn that the trademark process for domain names is not the easiest of things. The process is controlled by the Patent and Trademark Office, better known as the PTO. The PTO is not comfortable with the idea of registering domain names as trademarks. As such, the office will not let you do so if the domain is not incorporated into the site. If it merely points a visitor to a location, it is not enough.
To trademark domain names, one is going to want to perform a trademark search first to make sure nobody else has already registered the name or something so close to it that you would infringe upon it. Assuming there are no conflicts, one then files the appropriate application with the PTO and then starts going through the process of being approved. A quick word of warning – it can take a long time. The average processing time for a trademark is about a year, so patience is going to be key.
Contact me today at 619-637-6043 when you are ready to trademark you domain names. I look forward to hearing from you,
Richard
