wordpress.com domains which may interfere with existing domains and trademarks
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Let’s say I own a company called Taco Bell and therefore have tacobell.com as my main and long term domain.
Someone starts a site at the free WP site called tacobell.wordpress.com
Do I have, through wordpress, an easy way to deal with this? Or, do I have to start down the long path of legal and other systems?
It would seem they would (or should) have an informal policy of not allowing for (or having some basic dispute resolution) the lifting of single domain names (google.com) into google.wordpress.com, etc.
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Trademark and copyright law is fairly complicated. So I would advise anyone with a possible trademark claim to talk to a lawyer familiar with trademark law before doing anything else. As that may save you a lot of time and headache.
That having been said, you can find instructions for filing a trademark complaint at the bottom of this page:
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Thanks! I am fairly familiar with the law – as much as a layman can be, having filed some of my own patents and trademarks.
That form is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again!
I am in touch with the owner of the site in question so hopefully we will resolve before I need to file anything.
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re: http://tacobell.wordpress.com/
tacobell.wordpress.com is no longer available.
This site has been archived or suspended for a violation of our Terms of Service.
For more information and to contact us please read this support document. -
http://droneflyers.wordpress.com/ doesn’t appear to be infringing on your site in any way. It quite clearly self-identifies as a news site, and has a completely different look and feel. If you have an international trademark, you might have an option here. Otherwise, consider making him an offer.
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@RC it’s not about legal – just being a bully on some poor sod that has had a blog for a while
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The guy is cool – he says he didn’t do it on purpose and is being very friendly and will probably change names.
But it’s nice to know where to go if not.
I purchased the domain name for a decent sum and it’s been up for two years and the term is not commonly used, especially as one word.
So, yeah, it’s just about potential customer and search engine confusion – which is really the crux of many trademarks anyway!
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Where’s the evidence that you actually own the international trademark?
Check out http://www.uspto.gov/
That is the OFFICIAL website for patents and trademarks. On that website, you can search for trademarks, and even see ones that are “pending” .
There is also a section on trademark availability vs. “.com” address registration. They say it is not the same thing:
http://tess2.uspto.gov/webaka/html/warning.htm#REFUSE -
Sorry, I didn’t come here for your inquisition. I will handle my own business, as I have successfully for the 35+ years I’ve been doing it.
I do appreciate the actual answers to my OP….thanks!
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