Comments on: iPadAccessories.com Sells for $9,000 But Was It Worth It?

By: Travis

Travis — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:07:53 +0000

BabyFaceMagee:

Nice moniker, by the way:) I agree with you 100% There are cases where trademarks can be used when permission is given by the trademark owner. As I stated, UNLESS you have permission to use a trademark or know with absolute certainty that it is o.k. to use a trademark, avoid them. Thanks for your comments. They were very well thought out and provide some great additional information.

Take care,

Travis

By: babyfacemagee

babyfacemagee — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 14:05:04 +0000

The rules regarding domain names that have trademarks isn’t really as cut and dried as you’d think. For instance, many companies including a trademark name allow people to own domain names with trademarks in the title if it is an informational, support or blog site. Also, I’ve heard from several individuals that as long as you aren’t selling authorized products from the company, aren’t pretending to be the company or representing yourself as affiliated with the company in any way, then you’re usually ok. For instance let’s say I wanted to have a forum on the playstation called ‘playstationgamers.com’. Sony generally wouldn’t care that i’m using the trademark playstation in the domain because i’m out there pretending to be Sony or selling sony products. In addition, some companies give permission on a case by case basis for domain holders to sell 3rd party accessories or even authorized products if the right licenses/permission are obtained. For instance http://www.themacstore.com contains ‘mac’ which is an apple trademark. They apparently have permission from Apple however to sell Apple items and are not pretending to be Apple so they have been given permission and seem to be ok.

So while buying a trademark name can include higher risk….if you do the necessary work making sure your particular use is allowed…or that permission is gotten from the company….it’s not always a pointless or worthless venture.

By: Travis

Travis — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:24:15 +0000

Tony:

It’s hard to say what happened to your site. Google does own the trademark AdSense but based on a quick 10 minute search on the topic, they don’t seem to enforce the rights to it that stringently. Still though, I would never own a domain with Google or AdSense in it. I’d hate to build a business and then have it fall apart because Google came knocking on my door wanting to take my domain!

Travis

By: tony

tony — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:48:18 +0000

Following your comments on ipad trade names, i was ounce a affiliate of a website named adsensepackages.com who was not owned by google adsense, but now that i have read your articles, this makes a lot of sense why this site is not now in service. this website had tons of links on it, most of got too popular.

By: Travis

Travis — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:38:58 +0000

Missy:

Actually, it appears IPAD is a trademark for Apple and another company in Europe. Check it out here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/02/05/company-that-owns-ipad-trademark-in-eu-wants-apples-business/

I don’t have any iPad or any Apple-related domains (iphone, itouch, ipod, etc.) and I personally would never buy one. There’s just too much legal baggage. It’s just not worth the risk.

As for the gazillion iPhone websites out there, I’m sure Apple’s lawyers have better things to do than track down EVERY iPhone domain. The point is, why as a webmaster would you risk it? Sooner or later they’re going to come after you – especially if your site becomes popular.

Travis
Site Admin

By: Missy

Missy — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:17:50 +0000

Well I must be off my rocker, because I didn’t think IPAd was a trademark, but only APPLE.

I have an iPad domain and IMHO, a good one. But as I mentioned above didn’t think it was under trademark.

Do you have any iPad domain names? Would you seriously not buy one.

Also, what about all the gazillion iPhone websites out there?