Domain Name Disputes – Protect Your Online Turf

Intellectual Property

In a recent case, an individual in Guangzhou, China registered the domain names <walgereens.com> and <walgreene.com> with an internet registrar.  The websites at the disputed domain names displayed the message “Redirecting” before taking users to various, unrelated websites, including the legitimate website at “www.walgreens.com”. Each time a user typed in the URL a different website […]


Should I Register My Trademark?

Business, Intellectual Property

Business owners often ask me if they should “trademark” the name of their business. The good news for many of them is that they already have a trademark. There is no such thing as “trademarking” your company’s name. When you choose a name under which you will provide a particular good or service, you are adopting a trademark. In the U.S., you obtain rights in that trademark by using the mark in commerce in connection with the sale of goods or services. You do not have to register your trademark to have rights in it.


What the New Generic Top-Level Domains Mean for Your Brand

Intellectual Property

At the beginning of this year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the entity that manages the Internet’s global domain name system, began releasing new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .restaurant, .news, .computer, and .coffee. As many as 700 new publicly available gTLDs will roll out through 2015.


Merely Advertising Your Services Is Not Enough to File A Use-Based Application

Intellectual Property

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (Board) granted Playdom Inc.’s petition for cancellation of registration for the mark PLAYDOM for certain entertainment services on the basis that the registration was void because Registrant David Couture had not used the mark in the rendering of the entertainment services prior to filing his Section 1(a) use-based application.