Trademark+ProductType.com - Is this a legal domain type?
February 3, 2012 11:42 AM Subscribe
I want to sell a major sports product on a website. I got the best website I could find... not this but like this: NFLJerseys.com and I want to sell authentic product on the website. Is it illegal to have someones trademark in a store name/domain name? Once I make a successful site can they seize it?
If you've heard radio commercials from bars or catering services advertising Super Bowl parties, you'd notice they say "The big game" not "super bowl" because "super bowl" is trademarked and they can't use it to even advertise their own product.
posted by rich at 11:46 AM on February 3, 2012
posted by rich at 11:46 AM on February 3, 2012
You can use the trademark if the owner allows you to. The likelihood of the [NFL] doing so is pretty tiny in a situation like this. If you do this and don't have the legal right to do so, and make a big success of it, then the [NFL] can probably get your profits awarded to them when they win the lawsuit against you.
IANAL, and you should definitely consult one.
posted by rtha at 11:48 AM on February 3, 2012
IANAL, and you should definitely consult one.
posted by rtha at 11:48 AM on February 3, 2012
I would ask myself "is anyone else out there doing this?" And if the answer is "no" I could be pretty confident that it's not because no one else thought it would be a good marketing idea.
posted by yoink at 11:51 AM on February 3, 2012
posted by yoink at 11:51 AM on February 3, 2012
Don't mess with the "NFL". You can sell the items if they are legit but if "NFL" is in your domain name or in your slogan like "We sell NFL items", they'll take you down. "We sell authentic branded sports items" would be OK.
posted by caclwmr4 at 12:01 PM on February 3, 2012
posted by caclwmr4 at 12:01 PM on February 3, 2012
No, it's not legal and they will come after you. Hard.
I haven't sold any products on the web but I've been part of many community driven sites and whenever people used trademarks in their domain names they got to face suit man Legal. I mean, not even open source projects are fond of haven't their trademarks used without permissions and they have very laid back view of IP laws.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:02 PM on February 3, 2012
I haven't sold any products on the web but I've been part of many community driven sites and whenever people used trademarks in their domain names they got to face suit man Legal. I mean, not even open source projects are fond of haven't their trademarks used without permissions and they have very laid back view of IP laws.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:02 PM on February 3, 2012
FYI, the example of people using "The Big Game" instead of "The Super Bowl" is kind of bull. But yeah, if you're selling NFL/NHL/NBA/MLB stuff, steer clear of the official names of those leagues.
posted by Oktober at 12:13 PM on February 3, 2012
posted by Oktober at 12:13 PM on February 3, 2012
Response by poster: Thanks everyone, I guess it was more obvious than I thought... I guess I'll continue on the path of seeking out the trademark lawyers of the sport in question. Why oh why did I waste my question on this... I should've used it on my... is eating Chikfila sacrilegious on Super Bowl Sunday question.... next year.
posted by matimer at 1:07 PM on February 3, 2012
posted by matimer at 1:07 PM on February 3, 2012
Considering Chik-fil-a is closed on Sundays, I think it's safe to say that yes, eating day-old Chik-fil-a on Super Bowl Sunday would certainly be tragic, if not sacrilegious.
posted by Jemstar at 6:22 PM on February 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Jemstar at 6:22 PM on February 3, 2012 [1 favorite]
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