Welcome to Patents and Trademarks Guide
United States Trademarks And Patents Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
ï»żDomain Name Trademarks
from: Richard A. ChapoAs your Internet business grows, the value of your domain name increases. The issue of a domain name trademark should move to the top of your list. You need to guard against unscrupulous competitors that may try to incorporate your domain name in their meta tags to obtain search engine rankings under your name. If you have a domain name trademark, you can go after these individuals and compel the search engines to remove their listings.
What Is A Trademark?
A trademark is a distinctive item that is used to identify a logo, product, device, package or service. The trademark identifies the item as being provided by a particular firm. To protect these items you can obtain a mark from the patent and trademark office that prohibits others from trying to gain economic advantage from your mark.
Domain Name
The patent and trademark office views domain names in a unique way. The office views the âhttp://wwwâ element as a part of the file transfer process, not your domain name. The â.comâ, â.netâ, etc., designations are considered top-level domain identifiers and are also disregarded for the purpose of a domain name trademark. For example, our domain name is http://www.sandiegobusinesslawfirm.com. If we submitted the domain name for registration, only the âsandiegobusinesslawfirmâ portion would be considered for a mark.
Locators Cannot Be Registered
A domain name is a locator for file pages. When you type in your domain name, a server locates and displays files. If a domain is used solely for this purpose, it will not be granted a mark. Instead, the domain name must be incorporated into the site. For instance, Amazon is recognized as an online bookstore and the site actually has the word âAmazonâ on every page. Since "Amazon.com" is more than a locator, Amazon can apply for and receive a trademark. If Amazon used the domain name, bookstore.com, the company would be able to register âAmazonâ, but not âbookstore.â
Generic and Descriptive Terms
Domain names that are generic or descriptive in nature cannot be registered because they fail to designate a distinctive product or service. For example, âsandiegobusinesslawfirmâ is comprised of generic terms and describes who and where we are, to wit, a San Diego business law firm. This domain name cannot be trademarked. The same result would occur with bank.com, book.com, advice.com, etc.
You may be thinking, âWhat about âCoke?â "Coke" is a trademarked term because it is a distinctive term for a soft drink product. It just so happens that a brilliant marketing plan has convinced most people to refer to soft drinks as âcokesâ, even if they actually prefer another brand!
Trademarks are an important factor in protecting your Internet business. Armed with a trademark, you can keep competitors from pulling traffic off the search engines when people search for your site.
About the Author
Richard A. Chapo is with SanDiegoBusinessLawFirm.com - This article is for information purposes only. Nothing in this article is intended to address the readerâs specific situation nor does it create an attorney-client relationship.
United States Trademarks And Patents News
US Patent Granted to O2Micro for Battery Monitoring System - MarketWatch (press release)
US Patent Granted to O2Micro for Battery Monitoring System MarketWatch (press release) GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, May 21, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- O2Micro(R) International Limited (NASDAQ:OIIM) was issued 20 claims under United States patent number 8143857 for its Battery Monitoring System. O2Micro's patented Analog Front End ... |
ITC Judge Finds Kodak Patent Invalid In RIM Litigation - MarketWatch (press release)
 Bloomberg | ITC Judge Finds Kodak Patent Invalid In RIM Litigation MarketWatch (press release) RIM and Kodak are also litigating the '218 patent in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Dallas). On May 9th, Presiding US District Judge Kinkeade offered to immediately conduct a non-jury trial to resolve the pending ... Kodak Receives Notice of Initial Determination in ITC Patent Infringement ... |
Interactive Data Awarded Third Patent for Fair Value Pricing of an Asset - MarketWatch (press release)
Interactive Data Awarded Third Patent for Fair Value Pricing of an Asset MarketWatch (press release) NEW YORK, NY, May 21, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Interactive Data Corporation, a leading provider of independent evaluated pricing and valuation services, today announced that it has been granted a third patent by the US Patent and Trademark ... |
Apple, Samsung Ordered Into Patent Settlement Conference - BusinessWeek
 USA TODAY | Apple, Samsung Ordered Into Patent Settlement Conference BusinessWeek US District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, ordered Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook to meet face to face with Samsung CEO Choi Gee Sung. The general counsels of both companies also were directed to participate in the two-day mediation ... Apple and Samsung begin settlement talks Apple seeks to block Galaxy Tab 10.1 with preliminary injunction |
Cumberland, Apple, NovaLogic-Activision: Intellectual Property - Bloomberg
Cumberland, Apple, NovaLogic-Activision: Intellectual Property Bloomberg Apple Inc., 11-cv-715, US District Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington). For more patent news, click here. Trademark NovaLogic Spars With Activision Over Use of 'Delta Force' Marks NovaLogic Inc., the publisher of the âDelta Forceâ series of ... |
Apple Patents Multi Point Focussing Camera For Future Apple Devices - ITProPortal
 ITProPortal | Apple Patents Multi Point Focussing Camera For Future Apple Devices ITProPortal The US Patent and Trademark office has just awarded Apple a "Multi-point Touch Focus" patent. The patent describes "a camera (that) includes a lens arranged to focus an image on an image sensor and a touch sensitive visual display for freely selecting ... Apple granted 'multi-point touch focus' patent for its mobile devices Apple Reveals "Tap to Focus" Camera Feature Advancements Apple to significantly upgrade camera features |
Battery Charging Patent Granted to O2Micro - NASDAQ
Battery Charging Patent Granted to O2Micro NASDAQ GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman, May 21, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- O2MicroÂźInternational Limited (Nasdaq:OIIM) was issued 20 claims under United States patent number 8143862 for its Battery Charging invention. This patented charger IC controls the charging ... |