Quote:
Originally Posted by Grisey
If someone owned a domain with the word snap in before they ever came about surely they are safe ?
My friend owned a domain with the same word twice that he bought back in 99, a company bought the word .com back in 2004 in 2008 some prick in legal tried to sue him for the domain saying it was there word and they owned it and he had to hand over the domain or be sued for using the traded marked name.
The prick in legal didn't relaise he bought the domain 5 years before they even came about, once this was pointed out they crawled back under there rock.
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That would all depend on the usage of the trademark. If the trademarked word or term is generic and used in a different class of goods and services than that protected by the trademark, then they should have a viable defense and be safe. One of the leading domain catchers is Snapnames. Snapnames and Snapchat operate in different industries, so there's no conflict of interest with either of them using the word "snap" as branding. Snapnames.com was registered 11 1/2 years earlier than Snapchat.com. The earlier domain registration proves that there was no bad faith in the original registration of the domain, but if Snapnames were to also offer goods and services similar to Snapchat, there would likely be a problem.