Domain Name Trademarks
As your Internet business grows, the value of your domain name
increases. The issue of a domain name trademark should move to
the top of your list. You need to guard against unscrupulous
competitors that may try to incorporate your domain name in
their meta tags to obtain search engine rankings under your
name. If you have a domain name trademark, you can go after
these individuals and compel the search engines to remove
their listings. What Is A Trademark? A trademark is a distinctive item that is used to identify a
logo, product, device, package or service. The trademark
identifies the item as being provided by a particular firm. To
protect these items you can obtain a mark from the patent and
trademark office that prohibits others from trying to gain
economic advantage from your mark. Domain Name The patent and trademark office views domain names in a unique
way. The office views the "http://www" element as a part of
the file transfer process, not your domain name. The ".com",
".net", etc., designations are considered top-level domain
identifiers and are also disregarded for the purpose of a
domain name trademark. For example, our domain name is
http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com. If we submitted the
domain name for registration, only the
"sandiegobusinesslawfirm" portion would be considered for a
mark. Locators Cannot Be Registered A domain name is a locator for file pages. When you type in
your domain name, a server locates and displays files. If a
domain is used solely for this purpose, it will not be granted
a mark. Instead, the domain name must be incorporated into the
site. For instance, Amazon is recognized as an online
bookstore and the site actually has the word "Amazon" on every
page. Since "Amazon.com" is more than a locator, Amazon can
apply for and receive a trademark. If Amazon used the domain
name, bookstore.com, the company would be able to register
"Amazon", but not "bookstore." Generic and Descriptive Terms Domain names that are generic or descriptive in nature cannot
be registered because they fail to designate a distinctive
product or service. For example, "sandiegobusinesslawfirm" is
comprised of generic terms and describes who and where we are,
to wit, a San Diego business law firm. This domain name cannot
be trademarked. The same result would occur with bank.com,
book.com, advice.com, etc. You may be thinking, "What about 'Coke?' "Coke" is a
trademarked term because it is a distinctive term for a soft
drink product. It just so happens that a brilliant marketing
plan has convinced most people to refer to soft drinks as
"cokes", even if they actually prefer another brand! Trademarks are an important factor in protecting your Internet
business. Armed with a trademark, you can keep competitors
from pulling traffic off the search engines when people search
for your site. Richard Chapo is with http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com -
a law firm providing legal advice to California businesses.
This article is for general education purposes and does not
address every facet of the subject matter. Nothing in this
article creates an attorney-client relationship.
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Just like any business, your identity is very important. On the World Wide Web, your domain name is your identity. Of course, you can opt for a subdomain name that comes with many free web hosting like http://yourdomain.netfirms.com. But if you are serious about being successful on the Internet, you have to get your own domain name, like http://www.yourdomain.com.
Top 10 reasons to have your own domain name
Please note that all domain names listed in italic are ficticious:
It is cheap and easy to get your own domain name (less than $15/year in most cases)
You own the name (as long as you pay the annual fee)
You are not dependent on one web hosting company to let you use a subdomain, or worse, a subdirectory
Your web site promotion effort does not go to waste if you change your web hosting company (because the domain name remains the same regardless of what host you use)
The domain name can be optimized to your business, like www.best-used-cars.com
Your web site is more professional
The domain name is easier to remember. For instance, www.best-used-cars.com rather than www.geocities.com/web/public/business/auto/best-used-cars/
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A good domain name can be an asset
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How to register for a domain name
Please note that all domain names listed in italic are ficticious:
Think of appropriate name for that suit the theme of your web site. For instance, an online dating service may find domain name like www.loveconnection.com, more desirable than say www.best-used-cars.com
Search for domain name availability. Every domain name registrar will provide you with a search tool; although some search tools are better than other. You will have to do a lot of searches because a lot of domain name that you wish to have is probably already owned by someone else (very common).
As you come across available domain names that you like, jot them down. Keep searching until you have about 3-5 different domain names to choose from.
Choose a domain name and register it at a domain name ICANN Accredited registrar.
Other factors to consider
Initially, you will want the .com version of your domain name. If your internet business takes off, you may want to consider registering other first-level domains (i.e., .net) of your domain name and perhaps even similar domain names to prevent mistaken identity
Use domain name registrar that will register the domain under your name under all contacts information (perhaps with the exception of technical contact). It should be clear that you own the domain name.
Use domain name registrar that provide good online account support.
Use automatic domain name renewal if you are planning to own the domain name long-term
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