Website law and trademark, copyright law?

Question

I own websites and I was wondering... if there is a very successful website out there (as a domain name like yahoo.com), but they do not have legal copyright, or legal trademark, can I trademark that name and domain name, and then once I've trademarked it, claim it as my own, and sue the original owners, for stealing my trademark?

Because I don't know if just registering a domain name entitles you to that trademarked name.

This may sound alittle nasty, or even evil, but is this possible?
alex

Of course this may sound alittle scamming, but so is how people make money through big lawyers who attack for accidents, and mainly construction sites. How do you think they earn millions and millions of dollars, when they could just go about compensation.

Answer 1

Shorthand is yes, it's possible. But you have 2 challenges.

The first is to show you indeed have a trademark right for this term for its intended use (like XYZ to sell balloons online). The 2nd is to show the domain name is indeed infringing your trademark (like XYZ dot COM is showing ads to sell balloons online).

However, this practice has since been labeled "reverse domain name hijacking":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_domain_hijacking

While the one in wikipedia isn't official, it should give you an idea how it goes. If the registrant of the domain name/s in question is smart and on to your intentions, s/he might claim you're doing that.

If you get a reverse domain hijacking decision, it's like the Phantom's skull that never comes off. That decision can potentially harm your chances of "pulling off" similar disputes in the future.

Court and dispute resolution providers look down on such. One "egregious" example:

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2004/d2004-0964.html

Quite frankly I'm disappointed in you. But I'm answering your question anyway for you to at least give this some more thought.

OTOH, many problems in life can be solved if one just took some time to put themselves in the shoes of the other party, and see how you would possibly feel if someone did that to you.

I hope you make the right decision.

Answer 2

You may *display* a trademark or copyright symbol but it is not legally binding. A truly valid trademark applies to a logo or graphic. A truly valid copyright applies to content or text. These take awhile to fetch, and involve research and appeals (like, to prove no one's used them before, as you may understand). A trademark generally costs about $2000, to pay for the price of say, a lawyer to take the time to go through all the darned paperwork and bureaucracy for you.

Answer 3

Well seeing as they give full credit to Family Guy for these quotes and aren't claiming them as their own or using them for commercial purposes... I would say that they're ok in doing this.