Hi there, I've just purchased FSB and being a fan of Spongebob Squarepants, i'm thinking of making my first store a Spongebob Toy Store. The single problem is that i'm not sure whether i'm allowed to use the word Spongebob in the domain name. I'm not sure... Am i infringing the owner's rights or is it Fair Use? Do you use trademarked words in your domains? Thanks in advance, Valentin
I quite often use trademarked words in my domains, yeah. The only problem I’ve ever had was with an iPhone application that used a name registered to an company that produced audio equipment. I received a letter that asked me to change the name and I happily did so. You may experience a similar situation one day but in my opinion id just go ahead, register the spongebob domain and set up your store. The worst case scenario (which is very unlikely) is that you may one day need to register another domain.
You will probably be infringing the rights of the trademark owner as he will have exclusive rights to its use in any territory where it is registered. But it is very unlikely you will run into trouble, especially as you will be using it to promote the business of the owner. A few years ago I registered a site that included the word eBay as an affiliate for an eBay related service. Some months later, the eBay legal department told me to stop and I had to let the site's registration expire.
It just depends on what stance the company will take. I have had a few domains with trademark names in and haven't had a problem, but they have been relatively small brands. Some bigger brands (like Spongebob, Disney etc.) may be more likely to contact you.
Thank you all for the answers, I've recently purchased: SpongebobFanStore.com and installed FSB on it. My follow-up question is: will Amazon have anything against my domain name? I've updated the site's name in my Amazon Associate account. Will they review it and ask me to remove it (because it has Spongebob in it)? Thanks in advance, Best Wishes, Valentin
They *might* have an issue with it, but its unlikely . There is no need to update your account to include the websites you are promoting with Amazon - I would remove it from your account just in case. The bigger issue would be if Spongebob (or whoever owns the brand) gets in touch and asks you to stop.
They *might* have an issue with it, but its unlikely . There is no need to update your account to include the websites you are promoting with Amazon - I would remove it from your account just in case. The bigger issue would be if Spongebob (or whoever owns the brand) gets in touch and asks you to stop.
