Another legal question

[rogue]

i'm not in this position but i just wondered about it, the internet covers every country in the world and every country has different rules, so if say i used a domain that infringed on an american companys trademark, would i get away with it if i registered the domain from a country with a lax copywrite law?

Basically, i suppose my question boils down to, is the law enforcable from the country the domain/hosting is from or from any country it can be seen in?

[Head Boy]

That's a horrendously complex question to answer, and really one would have to know the specific situation to venture an opinion.
and you should consult a lawyer.

Here are a couple of guidelines and caveats anyway. A trademark owner can always take a domain owner to arbitration at WIPO. This only works for second level names.
Registrars often stipulate that domain disputes will be subject to the laws of their own country. This may not be legal in fact, but the bottom line is that they'll take you name away from you anyway. There are also some unique country exemptions, for example you can use the word "olympic" in parts of Greece.

There also some practical consequences to using domains with trademarks in them as well - for example, you can lose your hosting or your sponsor accounts.

To be quite honest, unless you're a stoppy bastard, and fairly clued up, then you should leave trademarks alone.

[GTP Dave]

do you know of "All Bar One" in London?
Well a swiss company runs a few places named the same and own the rights to the name in Switzerland...

[Toker]

Originally Posted by GTP Dave

do you know of "All Bar One" in London?
Well a swiss company runs a few places named the same and own the rights to the name in Switzerland...

No more comments on TMs, altho a TM on something doesn't
mean it's a Registered Trademark.
Only this symbol - ® - means that a trademark has been registered.

The reason for the post, PM me your email addy or
e me at Toker(-)toker.ws when you get time...

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