Website domain name conflicts (similarities)

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Website domain name conflicts (similarities)

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kemuri

posts: 5

Oct 15, 2008 5:42 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Hi,

This is my first post

My friends and I came up with this idea of a website that we`re planning to launch initially in our country (Philippines). We came up with a domain name, yooshops.com. We thought it was nice and started building the website. A few days later, I found out about another website that`s already running, ushops.com. If you read yooshops and ushops, they sound the same. And our ideas for yooshops have some similarities with what ushops does too.

So I`m asking for your suggestions on what to do. Should we go on with our domain name (yooshops)? If we do, will there be any legal complications?

This is our first try in building a web startup by the way. So we could really use your help/suggestions

sullivanka

posts: 17

Oct 15, 2008 7:28 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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This one is hard to say. They are different enough that it would be doubtful that you will run into legal problems. On the other hand, you want to be unique on the internet, and since the names sound the same, it may be better to try another.

Do you have any backup names? If you do, go to a site where you can purchase domain names and plug the name into the field and check if it is in use.

Additionally, if you do come up with the perfect or near perfect name for your business, purchase ALL of the related sites. Get the .com, .net, .org and the one that would relate to your country. This is very important as you do not want someone approaching later when you are wishing to buy the others and they present you with a huge price tag for the domains. Another benefit to purchasing all of the related domain names is that they become important assets of your business.

Kathleen

patentandtrademark

posts: 1332

Oct 15, 2008 7:32 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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sounding alike is enough to cause a problem in some situations.

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

kemuri

posts: 5

Oct 15, 2008 7:40 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Thanks guys,

@patentandtrademark

I thought so too. Just wanted to make sure since I don`t have enough knowledge in legal stuffs.

@sullivanka

That`s my problem, we`re having a hard time thinking of another name. That yooshops name took quite a while too.

Do you guys know of any website where I can find good ideas for domain names?

sullivanka

posts: 17

Oct 15, 2008 7:52 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Hi James

I was hoping someone would give a definitive answer on the legal question. This is very good for me know as well, as I build blogsites.

Kemuri

It is very difficult to come up with domain names. So many are already in use. Maybe someone here could help. What is it that you will have on your site?

Kathleen

CraigL

posts: 9051

Oct 15, 2008 8:02 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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"....And our ideas for yooshops have some similarities with what ushops does too....."

PatentAndTrademark (above) has had a number of topics about this kind of issue. Seems to me that although there wouldn`t be much trouble based ONLY on the spelling, when you add in the similarities in what you`re actually doing, that would be an issue.

At this early stage, why beg for trouble? A domain name is pretty inexpensive, so just get a different one. Okay, so it was hard to come up with the one, but would it be easier if you ended up with a lawsuit and cease-and-desist notice?

kemuri

posts: 5

Oct 15, 2008 8:12 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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@sullivanka

Our site will have similarities with ushops, but it`s going to have different feature sets due to the market that we`re focusing on (Philippines).

@CraigL

Good point. It`s back to the drawing board I guess.

patentandtrademark

posts: 1332

Oct 17, 2008 7:14 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Windy`s brand hamburgers is probably confusing similar to Wendy`s brand hamburgers (which is bad).

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

trumancoop

posts: 27

Oct 30, 2008 1:09 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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It all comes down to the documentation. If your word your website in asuch a way where it doesnt seem like ushops at all, then you should be fine.

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