Small Business | Forum « Legal Issue with Branded Namesake URL

Legal Issue with Branded Namesake URL (5 posts)

Topic tags: branding, namesake url, URL

Bob Green said
5 months ago:
Have any of you come across an issue with owning a URL that has a specific brand name within it?
Example: If you are a store that sells Levi jeans and you create a URL and create an additional website for your store with a URL of BostonLeviJeans.com or maybe you are a Levelor blinds store in Denver and you create an additional site under the URL LevelorBlindsDenver.com, etc.
I see it in my home improvement industry. Enforcement has been spotty. Some brands are more protective than others.
Do the companies have the right to shut down your site and take the URL from you? What experiences do you have out there?
@bob-green | # | Top
E N Brown said
5 months ago:
HI @bob-green
I’ve never used someone else’s brand name except for software packages and since those lead to sales of the product, the companies love it and give us full speed ahead. AND many times, we are hired to do just that – but we only do this for software – build specific sites for specific packages.
Assuming the URL is just your web address, I’d GUESS it would be OK, because it is not an incorporated company name. It’s just an address. But if I were you, I’d surely check some legal channels to be sure before you forge ahead.
Eileen
@supereb | # | Top
Rich Brooks said
5 months ago:
@bob-green
Great question!
I haven’t run into this myself, but I’d be hesitant to build up a lot of trust at a domain I was afraid I’d lose down the road.
I might have a main domain and use a second, “brand’ domain to drive traffic to the site…of course that could defeat the whole SEO aspect.
I’d err on the side of caution here and talk to THEIR lawyer.
@rich-brooks | # | Top
Bob Green said
5 months ago:
@supereb @rich-brooks Thanks for the advice. The client does have their own site and they are using the “branded” urls to set up mini sites for additional SEO. They were contacted by one brand with a stern cease and desist order. We took it serious and took down those two sites naming their brand. He has others and has been able to fly under the radar for the most part.
@bob-green | # | Top
Mark Johnson said
5 months ago:
Several years ago I purchased wynninvegas.com. I never developed it but had a landing page with ads and sent quite a bit of traffic to it from some other properties I owned. I received a 50 page cease and desist order from Steve Wynn’s attorneys. Needles to say, I took down the landing page and let the domain expire.
@mtheory | # | Top