Domain names and Trademarks

Notice to all would be cyber squatters: Web Site Domain Names are protected under the federal trademark law, as well as under international trademark law. This is particularly relevant to domain names that incorporate a famous person’s name. In a recent decision, by the United Nation’s World Intellectual Property Organization, as reported by eonline News, Tomcruise.com was finally awarded back to the rightful owner, actor Tom Cruise. The domain name was held by another person using the name to generate traffic to his own advertising rich web site.Using a famous person’s name in a trademark case is similar to using a famous mark, even if the intended audience is not similar to the famous mark’s audience. For example, a management consulting firm, specializing in restaurant start-ups, could not call themselves McDonald’s consulting. It is likely that the reasonable person, might think the fast food chain, had an interest in the consulting company, and would be generating profit off of the very famous McDonalds mark.