Purchasing a Domain Name with trademark in it

[webprofessor]

I wasn't sure where to post this. My apologies if this is in the wrong place.

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I have found a 2 word combination that consists of a Keyword + ProductName that is searched for quite a bit. I am considering buying it as a domain name "KeywordProductName.com" and starting a site about the product.

Has anyone here done that before ?
Am I asking for trouble ?

Would making it a "fan site" make it better ?

Thank you for your opinions.

Scott

[seomike]

We owned a domain with the word realtor in it and we were contacted about a month ago by realtor.com to take it down.

I would say unless you are a full blow affiliate or you are a licensed vendor don't buy any trademark, registration mark or service mark names in your domain. It took them 3 years to finally contact us to take it down but 3 years wasted, is time we can never get back ;)

[webprofessor]

Thanks for the reply seomike,

as an aside, realtor is not a common word ? its a trademark ?

wow

[bhartzer]

Before you purchase a domain name with a trademark in it, make sure you have permission from the trademark owner--in writing.

I know of several cases where someone started using a domain with a trademark in it and didn't have permission and they were sued--it's probably not something that you want to have happen, so make sure you cover yourself first.

[Chris Boggs]

A couple good examples:

1. In a company I used to work with in San Diego, we built some sites called "bluehealthquotes.com" and "bluehealthinsurance.com." Within weeks of going live, we received a cease-and-desist letter from Blue Cross/Blue Shield, claiming that they owned the term "blue" in any URL. The names we had chosen could be considered misleading to someone seeking BC or BS. Didn't fight it because we figured BC/BS had more money to spend on lawyers than we did. Ironically, the second one is now owned by an agent in CA that deals only BC/BS, making it "ok," I guess. The original site in question included other products from different insurance providers.

2. We recently were forced to stop using the term "automart" in one PPC campaign in the tile and description, even though it was modified by a proper name and a location. Turns out that Automart is also a trademarked term. The URL, however, will not be changed, maintaining its original spelling of "(namehere)automart(locationhere).com." This will fly, we feel, and this client would probably fight succesfully to keep it.

[MikeDammann]

Even if the company won't come after you, I would always recommend getting a "clean" domain and brand yourself :)

[David Wallace]

A few years back, we registered the domain selfstoragenet.com for a client. This generated a response from then Self Storage Net (now owned by Homestore.com) whose domain was selfstorage.net. I couldn't believe that they had not had the foresight to get the first domain I mentioned so we snatched it up.

The client wasn't able to keep the domain in the long run but did end up selling it for about $36,000. I assume that Self Storage Net figured it would be cheaper to pay that price for it than to fight it out in court.

The worse that can happen initially is they send you a cease and desist. Sometimes one can gain like my client did. However, I'd sure hate to build a great site and brand only to later have to kill the effort because my domain infringed on someone else's trademark. It the case of my client, it was not his main domain/brand so came out ahead while still having his main site/branding in place.

[webprofessor]

thank you for all the feedback.

I certainly wouldn't build a key site around a site with a trademark in it. My thoughts were it would be like a "fan site" that would make it difficult for the trademark owner to nuke it with out looking like a bunch a A**holes