Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Re: tm vers. .com

In JEWS FOR JESUS v. BRODSKY, 993 F. Supp. 282 (D NJ 1998), a federal judge laid down the law [old school style] regarding the right of a trademark owner to enjoin the use of a domain name which was deliberately chosen by the registrant to "fool" surfers into visiting his site, which contained material strongly opposing the views of the trademark owner. They can't take away your domain name, but your use of it may land you in court for trademark infringement.

Re: tm vers. .com

The owner of the Trademark has the right to the .Com name. Nevertheless, if the owner wants it you should try some negotiation skills. Call me if you need help at 856 665-2121

Re: tm vers. .com

This is a dicey area of the law right now, and the commission is considering this topic as it is so problematic. People who register domain names such as .com with the hope of selling later for big bucks have come under attack, but so far have prevailed.

One response has been to open up alternative domain names to .com such as .cc or .to or the like. When these gain popularity, the action will quit because the extention will not matter and there will be many more domains to chose from.

Right now those who register the domain name first "own" the exclusive right to use it during the registration period, usually 2 years. This is true whether or not the name is nationally or locally trade-marked or trade-named, as those registrations do not apply to the Inet.

Pepsi cannot claim pepsi.com just because their name is marked, and must purchase that site from the "owner" or registrant if they wish to use it under the present state of the law.