Domain names

[Ticks]

I found a domain name that i really like. The .com is available but the co.uk is not, there is a flash page with the company name and contact information displayed and says website under construction. We don't know what kind of business they are going to be, are we able to buy the .com.
Thanks,
Victoria

 

[DaveDAC]

Yep, you can. You may want to check that the word(s) is not registered as a trademark here http://www.ipo.gov.uk/ . If it is, you are still not necessarily prevented from using the domain name, but should take extra care that you do not infringe the registered trademark on your site. If the other site was an established business you would also need to be careful to make sure youa re not 'passing off' - this is the legal term for pretending you have an affiliation with a business or person where you do not (in other words, trading off their brand or image), but as the other site has not actually launched yet that is not an issue here.

 

[DavidBHill]

You can only buy a domain name if the owner is willing to sell it. You can find out the actual owner by visiting http://whois.net

Whatever you do there is the danger of annoying a bigger company. We used to be called Cloudnet until BSkyB sent us a cease and desist letter for using the word "Cloud". You can read all about it here http://www.birchills.net/blog/bid/54017/Birchills-net-is-New-Name-For-Cloudnet-10-03-11.

I know it costs 100K a day in the high court and so do they. If you win you get 90% of the costs back and if you lose you are broke.

So we ended up choosing a name of a place and no one has decided that they own the name Birchills - yet... No matter what the lawyers tell you and how much right is on your side if the big guys want your hide you have to give in gracefully (and early!)

So just go for the name you want and good luck.