Using Trademark in domain name

[Stampy]

I suspect that I already know the answer to this, but thought it worth asking.

Would someone be allowed to include a trademarked product name in their domain name, if they were not an authorised reseller?

For example, could I have www . refurbishednokiashop .co. uk selling refurbished Nokias?

I'm not saying that I want to sell refurbished Nokias, just wondering!

 

[crossdaz]

I suspect that I already know the answer to this, but thought it worth asking.

Would someone be allowed to include a trademarked product name in their domain name, if they were not an authorised reseller?

For example, could I have www . refurbishednokiashop .co. uk selling refurbished Nokias?

I'm not saying that I want to sell refurbished Nokias, just wondering!

It's up to them really - you'll probably get away with it so long as you actually do sell nokia phones.
I have a few mobile affiliate sites and I've used trademarked domains in the past - all approved by the operators concerned?

Just make sure you are contactable, on the off-chance they want you to stop using it.

BTW: the technical answer is no - so if they send the boys round to knee-cap you then don't blame me

 

[Stampy]

Thanks for that. That's actually a better answer than I expected. I'm selling dropshipped refurbished "xxxx" and "xxxxx" is in the domain. I haven't asked for approval, and don't have any plans to.

Phone, email and address details are on the site if "xxxx" need to contact me. I haven't invested much time and money in the site, and it's ranking 2nd and third in google for the search term "refurbished xxxxx" already, so I'm happy to keep it for as long as I can.

 

[Tommo]

If you profit from the use of their mark, you have already demonstrated bad faith.


You may well get a Cease and Desist letter if the trademark holder doesn't like it, possibly WIPO/URDP proceedings.

 

[Hofman Laursen]

It´s quite simply impossible for any big brand to have the ressources to go after any registrant using their trademark in the name. I believe that there are more than 30.000 domains with bmw in the domain. Every time you chop off one head of the dragon two new heads appear. Still it´s bad faith and you shouldn´t register the domain

 

[OldWelshGuy]

The problem is that at any given time, th e trademark owner can shut you down, and you lose your whole business. better to use a sub domain for it eg

the domain in www. best-deal-phone-shop.co.uk
nokia.best-deal-phone-shop.co.uk
samsung.best-deal-phone-shop.co.uk

that way you can trade off with them and not lose your entire business, they can't take you to domain dispute as it is a sub domain

 

[UKD]

It´s quite simply impossible for any big brand to have the ressources to go after any registrant using their trademark in the name. I believe that there are more than 30.000 domains with bmw in the domain. Every time you chop off one head of the dragon two new heads appear. Still it´s bad faith and you shouldn´t register the domain

That is not true, they could very easily shut you down. Ok, maybe if 200 other domains have their trademark in the domain too, it could be a big job for them to get all closed, BUT, does that really matter to you? No, it won't matter about anybody else when it is YOUR business they are targetting, and all the hard work, SEO, customer confidence and branding has gone overnight.

I would advise against it, unless you are maybe using it for a short term gain, but still risky if you are targetted and the court awards £30,000+ damages against you, and costs running into more tens of thousands.

A can of worms you don't need to go down.

 

[Eagle]

Yup, you would be profiting on their brand name/trade mark so it's a no-go really.