Domain Name Management – Three Pointers

First, a domain name is similar to a street address.  If you operate a business in a strip mall and the name is Trademark.Com, would you be upset if a business right next door to you opened a business named Trademarks.Com?  I have a feeling that you would not be happy.  So, simply register such similar domain names.  The same would apply if someone tried to register TheTrademark.Com and the like.

Second, it is important to consider unintentional and/or intentional misspellings of your domain name.  If your domain name is not easy to spell and you are aware that your customers mistakenly misspell your domain name, then consider also register such domain name(s).  And, if you believe and/or are aware that your domain name is able to be intentionally misspelled, then also consider registering those domain names—this is commonly referred to as typo-squatting.  The issue with such misspellings is that they are hard to detect and an Internet user may not realize that he/she has been diverted to a third-party website.

Third, if you have registered Trademark.Com, then I always recommend to my clients that you consider registering Trademark.Net, Trademark.Biz and Trademark.Org.  I believe that Internet users are very familiar with these domain names and are comfortable navigating to such webpages.  There are additional extensions (or top level domain names) that are available to be registered and you should consider if any additional registrations may make sense for your needs.

Now, I recognize that a business owner cannot register unlimited variations of its main domain name, but it is important to take into consideration a third-party’s registration of domain names which may be confusingly similar to your domain name.  But, viewing this from a different perspective, if you want to file a complaint in an effort to regain possession of such confusingly similar domain name, the filing fee to file such complaint will be around $1,300.00 (which does not include any legal fee).  You can register quite a few domain names for quite a few years and still not come close to the amount of the filing fee.  If you have any questions pertaining to your domain name, domain name selection, domain name management and/or a third-party’s possible improper use of your domain name, do not hesitate to be in contact.

This article does not provide legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship.  If you have any questions or would like to learn more about this topic or if you have other legal questions, do not hesitate to contact Chris Corpus, Esq. of Corpus Law Inc at Chris@CorpusLawInc.Com or 216-973-2475.  Copyright Christopher A. Corpus 2017.

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Chris Corpus

Founding Partner at Corpus Law Inc