Trademarked Name?

Have you registered a trademark for any of your forums' names? What made you decide to do this, and how do you feel about doing it now when you look back? Was it a waste of time and money or are you glad that you did it?

 

I haven't but I'd like to hear from those who have.

 

I have and I'm starting to have some small issues as a result. But, I will be re-branding my site with a new name (since folks know where to find me now ) and layout/design in the very near future

We're still going to be the Walt Disney Boards, but I will be going with my WDBoards.com or TheWDB.com branding to avoid any issues in the future.

 

;~; Not yet! I would like to though.

 

What kind of issues, Arny? Don't tell me The Mouse is unhappy with you, after all the business you bring them?

 

Not the Mouse at this point, but other affiliate sites and partners that are apprehensive to doing business because of the domain itself and the logos.

It's not a big problem yet, but since I've been promoting TheWDBOARDS.com (WDBOARDS.com) and TheWDB.com for the past year, we should be okay in changing the name/logos without losing anyone.

 

Just a quick reminder: WDBOARDS.COM still goes to the GoDaddy parked page (if you weren't aware, thinking it went to your forum).

 

I don't think I'd bother too much. After all it's all about the member activity, no 'competitor' board can really pose as you if you're elite in your field sort of thing.

If somebody copied my design (which is downloaded) and used a similar name and domain name, and started ranking for the same things, it would still take them a couple of years to get to the same level of activity and your loyal members never go anywhere else.

 

So if you trademark your site names, how does this effect the other domain names similar in nature? I mean if I for example trade mark Semiautorifles.com, does this mean other people can't start a forum using a similar name like Semi-Autorifles etc even though I don't own that domain name?

Also, what is involved in trademarking a name? I've been thinking about it once I start producing things like T-shirts and stickers etc.

 

I don't think you'd be able to trademark the words Semi Auto Rifles. But you should be able to register SemiAutoRifles.com as a trademark. And then if you did and somebody started the website Semi-Autorifles.com they would be okay using the actual domain name to a point, but as soon as they started to 'look' like your 'brand' then you should be able to do something about it.

I've been on both ends of dealing with trademark issues and it normally just comes to a solicitors letter to the offending person and it's sorted. Especially if the trademark is established.

I've also had a brand once with a website that I used for a couple of years and then had a firm register a very similar name as a trademark and they attempted to gain ownership of MY website!!!! Though after some serious cash was spent with my solicitors we were fine with it because we proved I had been trading for some time, and therefore it wasn't a case of me using their name.

There is a period of time when you apply that companies can contest against it. I should have done that and they'd have not even have been able to register it, only apply for it. But as I didn't know how it worked then they did get it granted and did trade with it. In the end i changed my firms name as they did spend a lot of money on marketing it and I didn't look professional. The whole time I was allowed to keep my website running with their trademark. We just came to an agreement for the sake of both of us.

It was just one of those things I think.

 

Hey thanks Dan,

I recetly bought up most of the .org and .nets for my name but there is still a bunch of similar domain names out there that I really just don't want to buy up. So I'm exploring the option of trade marking the name as a way of helping to protect my brand without having to buy up more domain nmes.

If you don't mind me asking, how much did it take to trade mark your name and how much is it to maintain the trademark?


Thanks again,

 

I have never trade marked anything, however as part of my 5 year plan with my website and expansion - i am looking at it - especially seem i am preparing to gain merchandise for my site etc.

Does anyone know if I would be able to trademark a name such as: The Pavilion Forums ?

 

Trademarks, much like copyrights, are instant and automatic upon usage within your region. AdminAddict and its corresponding logo are legal and valid trademarks for this site. All product branding lies on this distinction.

The benefits to registering your trademark are threefold.

1) You establish a date of publication so that you can protect your trademark in a court of law and receive any profits lost due to ambiguous branding.

2) The mark moves from regional protection to international protection and is covered under international treaties covering copyrights and trademarks.

3) You can distinguish your trademark as a service mark or trade mark and a registered trademark for better recognition.