Significance Of Trademarks In Cyberspace

Trademarks

In this time of extensive internet use, trademark laws gain particular significance in the cyber world, especially with respect to trademarks for domain names. A trademark becomes essential if the consumers are going to know you and the products or services that you provide by your domain name.

A domain name that has been trademarked not only helps you to prosecute persons infringing your mark and using it as their own but also saves you from being looked upon as the patron of their website that might be using an exact or deceptively similar domain name as yours.

However, you need to do a thorough search for identical domain names in existence before registering your trademark, in order to avoid any violations. The research should investigate the presence of similar trademarks that have a strong resemblance in looks, sound or meaning to the domain name you have chosen. It is vital to trademark a domain only after thoroughly confirming that it does not violate any trademarks.

For achieving this, it is advisable to hire the services of a cyber law practitioner, who can guide you in cyber-related trademark issues. This can greatly help in avoiding future disputes related to possible violation.

It is essential to note in this respect that a domain name can be registered as a trademark only if it acts as an identifier of the goods or services of your business, and not just as an online address that draws internet users to your site.

In addition to violation of domain names, keyword infringement has come up as a new problem in cyberspace, which means violation of original trademarks by their unauthorized use as keywords in ads on Google, Yahoo etc with a purpose to puzzle the customers or to dilute the genuine trademark.

However, it should be remembered that such usage by advertisers is not considered an act of infringement if by making use of the trademark the person or company contributes to the marketing of the goods or services of the owner of the genuine trademark, and not act as his rival.

Related posts:

1. Protect Your Brand By Using A Trademark
2. What Constitutes Trademark Infringement?
3. How To Protect Your Intellectual Property On The Internet
4. The Difference Between Patents, Copyrights And Trademarks
5. Basis Of Action For Trademark Infringement