Legal Question in Business Law in New Jersey

Can I use a trademark as my website?

I can't find a clear answer to my question anywhere.

**names listed below are examples**

There's a company, American Automobile Company that owns a trademark ''coolcars'' and also operates coolcars.com domain. I registered coolcars.net and have been building/proagramming it for a year now, and it is almost ready to launch, when this question came up. After some research, I found that their trademark & domain(.com) was registered befor I registered my .net.

Will I infringe on American Automobile Company's trademark,''coolcars'', if I use my site ''coolcars.net''?

If yes... Would ''cool cars center'' be an infringement, and can I use the domain ''coolcarscenter.com and/or .net without any legal implications.

Also if yes ... What if I have a disclaimer on my homepage and at the every page footer, saying ''coolcars.net'' is NOT American Automobile Company or associated with ''coolcars.com'' ? Will this protect me?

By forming a corporation using my domain as my company's name or alternate name protect me ..ie COOLCARS.net LLC

Thanks in advance...


Asked on 1/31/03, 9:08 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Benjamin Laves Benjamin S. Laves, Esq.

Re: Can I use a trademark as my website?

Your question is really more a Trademark question than a business question. A Trademark search would need to be done in order to properly assess the issue and give you a reliable response. Registration of a domain name is NOT the same as registration of a Trademark.

Disclaimers do not relieve liability for infringment, but do help to deter some marginal claims and avoid confusion.

Regarding formation of a corporation or LLC: this is almost always a good idea. Such an entity would provide certain advantages and protections not otherwise available to an individual engaged in business.

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Answered on 2/03/03, 10:29 am


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