Use trademark domain for unrelated purpose

[ttfan]

I'm interested in a domain that's trademarked by an international company. The .com.au domain is available, and happens to also be the name of a brand of items that we sell, which is totally unrelated to the trademark. Am I safe to use this domain since it's for a completely unrelated type of goods?

 

[johno69]

Trademarks can be registered in totally different classes, Dove being a prime example.
You could likely register the trade mark yourself in a class related to your service/product.

Good chance you'll be fine. But i'm no lawyer.

 

[ttfan]

Thanks john69. I wasn't thinking of registering the trademark, just buying the domain and hoping that this causes no issues with the trademark holder (as they operate in a completely different field).

 

[johno69]

just buying the domain and hoping that this causes no issues with the trademark holder (as they operate in a completely different field).

If you are not in their class then there's likely no breach.

 

[findtim]

he's selling "face books"

 

[ttfan]

No no, nothing silly like that. I'll give you an example;
Anvil is a brand of medication, presumably owned by a pharmaceutical company. Let assume they don't own the .com.au domain for this brand. Now I sell Anvil-brand tennis racquets, and wish to buy this domain to promote my anvil-brand tennis racquets. Anvil tennis has no relation to the Anvil medication. Can I get into trouble if I buy and use this domain purely for promoting my tennis racquets?

 

[findtim]

no, you'd be fine + anvil is a dictionary word.
it gets back to the "dove" story, dove chocolate and dove soap
tim

 

[snoopy]

If you are definitely selling a brand of products right now called that then I would say it is ok (I'm assuming this is product that you make/repackage rather than being someone else's brand).

That is not to say you won't ever hear from them, you might. But there chances of winning in court are low if you are selling a product in a different class to the trademark.

 

[ttfan]

Thanks a lot guys!
findtim: My brand is not a dictionary word, I should have picked a better example , but everything else is exactly as I described.
snoopy: It's a brand for which we're the official Australian distributor, we import it directly from the overseas manufacturer.

 

[snoopy]

Thanks a lot guys!
findtim: My brand is not a dictionary word, I should have picked a better example , but everything else is exactly as I described.
snoopy: It's a brand for which we're the official Australian distributor, we import it directly from the overseas manufacturer.

Yeah I see, I wouldn't be very concerned about legal issues then.

 

[findtim]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anvil

 

[ttfan]

Yes of course I know what an anvil is, stop rubbing it in!

 

[findtim]

are your tennis rackets really that HEAVY?
now here's a great invention

 

[Robert Crain]

You'll be fine. I own a few domains that are trademarks but I don't use them under the trademarked category, I've never had any issues in almost 20 years...go for it