Website Question.

Assasin-uk

Assasin-uk

Assasin-uk

Associate
Joined
1 May 2003
Posts
501
Location
Blackpool Lancs
Lets say i buy mcdonaldsburgers.com

can mcdonalds come along and take it from me stating something about intelectual property rights?


this is a serious question btw, mc'd's is just an example name :D
 
McDonalds is a copyrighted name. If they wanted the domain off you, you would have to prove that you had more rights to the name McDonalds than they did, which would be highly unlikely.
 
i think it is all dependant on what your are using the name for really.

For example you are not a allowed to 'cyber squat' i think is the term there was an example like someone bought davidbeckham.net and they werent using it for anything and tried charging thousands and thousands of pounds for it.

Well that is my attempt to explain it at this early in the morning :p

more info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_squatting

basically buying a domain like mcdonaldsburgers.com and trying to charge mcd's lots of money for it might be against the law
 
ok thanks,

so basicly they can come and demand it from me?

i have no intention of trying to sell it them for ££££££ lets just say i was going to run my own business from it selling me own burgers..?

(this whole burger thing is just an example as i carnt say who or what at the mo)
 
Just using your McDonald's name as the example.

Buying the domain name with the actual intention of selling it on would be dangerous in itself.
However in the worst case scenario you lose the domain name and the $10 or whatever it cost to register.

Now, using that domain name to sell your own burgers - this would be seen as "cashing in on the McDonald's name for your own gain".
The result on the domain would almost certainly be the same - you would lose it.
However there are extra legal implications and you would end up in a lot more trouble.
 
Assasin-uk said:
lets just say i was going to run my own business from it selling me own burgers..?

(this whole burger thing is just an example as i carnt say who or what at the mo)
Click to expand...

You can't sell a product under a name that is copyrighted.

E.g

you can't sell burgers with the name 'McDonalds'.

you can't sell televisions with the name 'Sony'.

etc
 
hmmmm my solicitor told me to give it them back too as it aint worth the fight, but to charge them a reasonable amount for it..


Whats reasonable though...


Case of the big company wins again so far...
 
Assasin-uk said:
Case of the big company wins again so far...
Click to expand...

Not really, you've infringed on their intellectual property, but thus far not put up a plausible reason why you'd register the domain in the first place other than to make a quick buck or to 'pass off' another business as appearing as something else...
 
Assasin-uk said:
hmmmm my solicitor told me to give it them back too as it aint worth the fight, but to charge them a reasonable amount for it..
Click to expand...
You need a new solicitor then. Trying to charge them will possibly, in turn, bring out their big guns....
 
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