if it's another mikerowesoft.com?

would try and sell to trademark owner

Not unlawful. However, like all domain names, it is subject to protest.

For example, a domain such as generalmotorsisbest.com would not be sustainable.

General Motors would win if they chose to contest it.

It does, unless a trademark holder can prove trademark infringement.

Which is very easy for them.

ex. lets say I own IBM.com. Now the IBM company has IBM as their official trademark. Can I sell this website without getting in trouble ...

trademark brands own their name

...for trademark violation? I mean technically I am making money off someones trademark

Let's make it IBM.tv. The law is vague, but I'd bet on IBM.

I know Wordpress threw a shitfit over people having domain names with wordpress in it.

And they were correct.

so the verdict is that I cannot sell the domain and its useless to me?

you don't want to risk it

it's an overreaction from when people could sit on any domain name and companies were forced to buy their own name for huge sums.

Not and "overreaction" at all, but proper legal recourse.

so if they wanted to hey could just up and take the domain from me, just like that? seems kinda wrong to me.

they have lawyers..

Not correct. You'd be wrong in registering it in the first place.

I suggest you hire an attorney specializing in intellectual property.

but there is nothing when registering that tells you that the name is trademarked, and you would never know unless you looked up every..

annagarcia That's right. And deep pockets.

...domain you have ever purchased, and I bet 90% of people don't, because they have an idea and need to get the domain right away.

google cases where people lost their domains because of a trademark name

Okay, I concede to ICanHasPlurk. You're right. And so is TW. Good luck.

Maybe IBM won't come after you for "icanpwnibm.is". But they won't want to, either.

But seriously, I'm only trying to offer helpful advice. The best thing to do is to spend a couple$ and hire an attorney specializing in IP.

And realistically, if a trademark holder wins, they'll rarely ask for any monetary damages - only the right to the domain.

I understand, ICanHas... However, intellectual property is a concept recognized by nearly all civilized nations.

so simply, yes you can buy one but you'll risk losing it at one point in time. just purchase a clean domain name that wont give you trouble.

unless you're up for a battle at some point. doesnt hurt to be prepared..

Interesting viewpoint. However, that just points out the wild-west nonregulation of domain names.

this is a good article you should read Domain Trademark Infringement

you know, I had a relative who got in this big dispute, in the late '90s with Hasboro. He had owned the url clue.com for his business

Clue Computing. I don't know how that resolved itself. A quick way would be to check clue.com, I suppose...

looks like he kept it. I know it cost him a fortune...

Deb that's a good example of the ambiguity surrounding domains. In fact, the holder of Nissan.com WON his battle against Nissan automotive!

well, it looks like he trademarked "Clue" I think the problem was, he had that url and years after he'd bought it, Hasbro came after him

I think they first asked for it and he said no, so it went from there...

reading up on this stuff now, there is more to this than just what appears on the surface I am afraid

how many people just clicked on http://clue.com

interesting discussion

I knew someone who had a domain containing the word polaroid and was contacted and had to stop using the domain.

OK, according to what I read, I, cannot get in trouble for having the domain name or using it. I can however get in trouble for cyberquattin

I cannot try and sell the domain name to the trademark holder and cannot try and impress upon people that am the trademark holder

although legislation does vary it seems pretty concrete in saying that if I own this name with legitimate use purposes I can not be held..

accountable

I was forced by WordPerfect to stop using the name AutoPerfect for a program. I found a IR specialist attorney, who said to give up.

There are exceptions. Twitter has not sued anyone for using their name in other applications, like Twittervision, Twitterberry, etc.

So when a company does not enforce its trademark, they set a precedent that it's okay to use it. Ultimately, trademark cases are all

judged independently by courts because there are so many factors.