10-12-2007, 08:01 PM
OK Tanya, I'll try to explain it to you very breifly.
First of all, you should read all that long blah blah that there is about trademark domains! If you estimate that your domain may be worth a lot, then you would be investing your time into that monetary figure..
So on to the nitty gritty.
Domains that contain trademarks may be 'challanged' by the trademark owner in specialised courts, called arbitration centres. These arbitration centres operate on a set critera which have been derived by ICANN. Under this critera, a domain may be transfered if:
(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
What is bad faith?
(i) circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
(ii) you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
(iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
(iv) by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.
Those rules are outlined in the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy, or UDRP.
That is just about all you need to know about trademarks and domains. Those are the conditions in which a domain name may be transfered away from you (confiscated) and transfered to a trademark holder.
In your particular case, you should be aware that your registration could be challanged on at least two points. Firstly, it could be considered you registerded a domain that the airline company owns the trademark to. Secondly, it may be considered that you registered it in bad faith (either to stop the company from owning the name, or in order to sell it back to them).
If youre domain is AirlineName.CN, and it is challanged, then you would probably lose and the domain will be transfered to the airline.
Zach
First of all, you should read all that long blah blah that there is about trademark domains! If you estimate that your domain may be worth a lot, then you would be investing your time into that monetary figure..
So on to the nitty gritty.
Domains that contain trademarks may be 'challanged' by the trademark owner in specialised courts, called arbitration centres. These arbitration centres operate on a set critera which have been derived by ICANN. Under this critera, a domain may be transfered if:
(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and
(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
What is bad faith?
(i) circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name; or
(ii) you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern of such conduct; or
(iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor; or
(iv) by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on your web site or location.
Those rules are outlined in the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy, or UDRP.
That is just about all you need to know about trademarks and domains. Those are the conditions in which a domain name may be transfered away from you (confiscated) and transfered to a trademark holder.
In your particular case, you should be aware that your registration could be challanged on at least two points. Firstly, it could be considered you registerded a domain that the airline company owns the trademark to. Secondly, it may be considered that you registered it in bad faith (either to stop the company from owning the name, or in order to sell it back to them).
If youre domain is AirlineName.CN, and it is challanged, then you would probably lose and the domain will be transfered to the airline.
Zach