Am I risking being sued?

This is a difficult area which can be problematic. I am not a legally qualified, but note the following from experience.

If the 'empire' has not protected its name within a trademark, then it is possible you can use the same name (unless some other entity has already trademarked it - check http://www.patent.gov.uk where you can search all trademarked names)

If you are going into the same space eg. publishing/news, then there could well be some issues and the likelyhood of encounter even greater. The more successful the business, the more likely the encounter IMHO.

Even if you are not going to operate in the same sector,  larger outfits will sometimes take you to court for 'passing off' or riding their identity for your business benefits - regardless of your business or what its doing.

Even larger/global empires will attempt to squash any company or individual who goes anywhere near their brand - McDonalds comes to mind, who preyed upon a sole plummer in Scotland a few years ago who's van bore the same name as the global restaurant chain -  Mr McDonald no less.

If you are considering registering a trademark, then info on this can be found at the same URL above.

As for the domain name itself, because a name bears the same as a company doesn't necessarily mean they are entitled to it by law - it really depends on how generic a term it is (eg house.com) and a whole host of other factors. Domain registrars generally have individual/teams and panels who deal with any problems that arise.

If you are investing a significant amount of money in the business in question, a few hundred pounds worth of advice from a trademark attourney and lawyer would be money well spent.

Rgds

Nick

On 13:19:18 16 September 2004 spacemonkey wrote:

Hi

I am about to purchase a domain name with the intention of developing a local business portal. The problem is that the domain name I plan to use is the same as that of a local news empire, except of course for the extension bit at the end. The worry here is that this will bring me in direct competition with them online, and I am concerned that I might get hit by a law suit based on the site having the same name as them(eg, cyber-squatting type ruling).

As far as I am aware their site name is not a registered trade mark. In any case, has anyone had similar experiences or know which way the law leans on such issues? Also, any advice on how to deal with potential threats made by them would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Dmitri