registering a domain with a trademark?

P

proptrader11

I have a trading blog and was looking to switch to a different domain name. The domain name that I want is available although I see the same name is actually trade marked (TM) by another company. Does this mean I should not use that domain? Could this cause a problem down the road?

For Example Bloomberg launched Tradebook. Let's say they Trade Marked tradebook and that was my domain name could I have problems?

Thanks
 
Trade mark law is complicated. Hurry up and do it, and put your TM sign on it on the front page. You may even get offered some money for the domain.
 
The company already has a TM on the word I am looking to take although the domain is available. Is this probably the reason why it's available?
 
The things about trademarks and copyrights is that the owner needs to enforce them. If the domain is available, you will likely prevail, as the trademark owner didn't protect his mark.
 
Hi Vikana

what do you mean by, as the trademark owner didn't protect his mark.

Meaning the owner did not protect their mark by registering that domain?
 
Quote from proptrader11:

Hi Vikana

what do you mean by, as the trademark owner didn't protect his mark.

Meaning the owner did not protect their mark by registering that domain?
More...

Ditto
 
Quote from proptrader11:

I have a trading blog and was looking to switch to a different domain name. The domain name that I want is available although I see the same name is actually trade marked (TM) by another company. Does this mean I should not use that domain? Could this cause a problem down the road?

For Example Bloomberg launched Tradebook. Let's say they Trade Marked tradebook and that was my domain name could I have problems?

Thanks
More...

I presume the company is US (USA and Canada have slightly different trade-mark law). In the States, TM means it is not registered. They simply use the trade-mark and have common law rights which are more difficult (read, expensive) to prove. Domain name and trade-marks are different. They can potentially sue you for passing off (as their trade-mark is not registered, it will be more difficult to prove. If the Trade-mark was registered (R), they could sue you for trade-mark infringement) but ONLY if you use your newly registered domain name as a trade-mark, i.e. started selling merchandise bearing the new name/logo or selling services under the new name. For example, Ninja Trader has a domain but also sells their services under the name Ninja Trader. If you are not selling anything, you are not using the trade-mark, so there is nothing to worry about.
 
I disagree with the answers being posted here.

If a company has a Trademark through the USPTO and you use their mark, you are subject to at least two things:

1) An Interference action against you where the owner of the mark claims you are using their property, and,

2) With respect to commercial use of domain names, another style of intereference. If "sears.com" were available and you grabbed it, or sears.us or otherwise, and you started selling "Craftyman" tools, you can rest assured it would be quite simple for Sears & Robuck to get that domain nuked. But if your name was "John Sears" and you used sears.us to post a family blog, they can't do anything about it.

Visit www.uspto.gov and research on what Trademark means and what happens with respect to commercial use of a domain when someone else has established ownership of that name with respect to trade.

I think you'll find you're better off coming up with another name.
 
In my post, I said that TM means the mark is probably not registered-that's why it will be more difficult for owners to enforce it.
The ® symbol indicates that a mark is federally registered in the USPTO. If a mark is not federally registered, the symbol "TM" for "trademark" or "SM" for "service mark" can be used to indicate that, even though a mark may not be registered, the owner is nevertheless claiming rights in it.

First thing, you should do is to determine whether the tm is registered through the USPTO http://tarr.uspto.gov/
 
I appreciate the input, I will give you a perfect example without giving away the company, although a company very close to it.

For Example: ThinkorSwim has a software program called "Paper Money". Let's say their software program Paper Money was registered with the uspto.gov as a trademark (TM).

Now what if I owned the domain "papermoney" and my site was also about paper trading, traders, including selling services through my site as well such as training.

Would this interfer with ThinkorSwim - PaperMoney (TM)?

Thanks
 
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