Trademark Domains

[gartar]

Hello

Is it legal to register a typo domain? I mean if the domain name myfree.com is registered, can I register domain names that are similar to that domain?For example myfreee.com, myrfee.com, myfee.com?
And is it a problem if the domain name contain trade mark?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Hello

Is it legal to register a typo domain? I mean if the domain name myfree.com is registered, can I register domain names that are similar to that domain?For example myfreee.com, myrfee.com, myfee.com?
And is it a problem if the domain name contain trade mark?

If you're talking about "typosquatting" then the answer is no, if you want to avoid trouble. The most famous cases arose from telephone number misdials (1-800-MATTRESS) where people wanted to unscrupulously trade off the good name of others by capitalizing on misdials, e.g. the letter "o" instead of a zero, etc. Typosquatting will arouse ire, especially if the other company is large enough - and they will likley win. You'll need to show a good faith reason why you registered the domain name in order to keep it.

 

[gartar]

I wasn't talking about domains that contain trade mark(for example google.com).In that case I know that the answer is on.I meant domain names that don't contain trade mark, and that are ordinary words.

For example let's say the domain work.com is registered, and the word "work" is not a trade mark.So can I register: wrk.com, woork.com or wrok.com?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I understood what you meant. The typosquatting is not the actually spelling either but is clearly designed to capture visitors looking for A but getting A1 instead because of a mistype and misimpression. For example, CocaCola with all letter "o" or C0caC0la with the number "zero" are both iterations of the same under the law. It's fairly common sense. If you registered Gogle or Gooogle or Googel and had a search engine there it's pretty clear what is happening and a violation of trademark. The bottom line is that if there is a likelihood of confusion with your usage and the trademark, you've got problems.

 

[fateny]

different extension

let's say i wanted to register hello-you dot com and I wanted to use the name helloyou for my web site name. But helloyou dot de has the name helloyou already on their site? Will i still be able to you helloyou as my site name or is hello-you ok?