Trademarks and domain names: what to check before you buy
Buying a domain gives you control of the address, but it doesn't give you any rights to a name that belongs to someone else's trademark. Getting this wrong can mean losing the domain, a legal dispute, or having to rebrand after you've built a business. A little checking beforehand avoids most problems.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Trademark law varies by country, and for anything important you should consult a qualified professional.
Domains and trademarks are separate systems
Registering a domain only requires that the name is available. Registrars generally don't check whether it matches someone's trademark. That's why it's possible to register a domain that you aren't legally allowed to use for business.
A trademark gives its owner rights to a name or brand for particular goods or services, in particular countries. When a domain uses someone else's trademark in a way that confuses customers, or takes unfair advantage of the brand, the trademark owner may be able to take action.
How trademark owners can recover domains
Many domain extensions follow a dispute process that lets trademark owners challenge domains registered in bad faith. For .com and many other generic extensions, this is the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy, usually called the UDRP. Country-code extensions often have their own similar processes.
Broadly, a trademark owner may be able to have a domain transferred to them if the domain is identical or confusingly similar to their trademark, the domain owner has no legitimate interest in the name, and the domain was registered and is being used in bad faith. Courts are another route.
What to check before you buy
1. Search official trademark databases
Search the trademark office databases for the countries where you'll do business. In Canada, that's the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. In the United States, it's the USPTO. WIPO's Global Brand Database lets you search many countries at once.
Look for exact matches and for similar names in your industry.
2. Search the web
A quick search shows whether a business is already using the name, even if it isn't registered as a trademark. In some countries, unregistered trademarks that are actively used also have rights.
3. Think about industry and meaning
Common words can often be used by different businesses in unrelated industries. Trouble usually arises when your use is close to theirs: the same or similar name, in the same or related field. A name that's a common dictionary word used in its normal sense carries less risk than an invented word that matches a known brand.
4. Look at the domain's history
If the domain was previously involved in a dispute, past decisions may be published. The domain's archived web pages can also show whether it was used in a way that could cause problems.
Red flags
- The domain contains a well-known brand name, or a misspelling of one.
- The seller emphasises that the name "would be worth a lot to" a specific company.
- An active company in your field uses the same name with a different extension.
- The price seems to depend on someone else's brand.
Buying a domain like this is risky even at a low price. The trademark owner may be able to take it away, and you may have no way to recover what you paid.
For sellers
The same rules apply when selling. Don't list domains that infringe someone else's trademark, and don't describe your domain as being perfect for a specific well-known brand. Listings that use other companies' brand names can create legal problems for you, and responsible marketplaces remove them.
When to get advice
If you're building a business around a name, a consultation with a trademark professional before you invest heavily is money well spent. They can search more thoroughly and advise whether to register the name as a trademark yourself.
When you find a name that passes these checks, you can browse domains for sale and buy with confidence that the payment is protected until the domain is yours.