[temporary]Won't be here often

[RGVF Moderator]

We had a death in the family today. I will not be in as much for a bit.

I think you all are sustaining these forums well. Keep bringing people in.

Can someone look into the legality of the forum name please?

[Ol' Buzzard]

My condolences...

[Ol' Buzzard]

Did a quick search on domain names--the most common problem is cybersquatting. This is when a individual acquires the domain of a well-know trademark with the intent of selling it for profit.

The main basis for a business to challenge this would be through the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (also known as Truth in Domain Names Act) of 1999.

Here is the three pronged test
---the trademark owner’s mark is distinctive or famous;
---the domain name owner acted in bad faith to profit from the mark; and
---the domain name and the trademark are either identical or confusingly similar (or dilutive for famous trademarks).

YES
NO
NO

[wp2003]

sorry to hear about that mod, my condolences to you as well.

[xlobo]

So Buzzy this forum name can't do anything with RGVSports right???

[xlobo]

Jun 15, 2008 22:14:59 GMT -6 RGVF Moderator said:

We had a death in the family today. I will not be in as much for a bit.

I think you all are sustaining these forums well. Keep bringing people in.

Can someone look into the legality of the forum name please?

:angel: Prayers out to you and your family....

[Ol' Buzzard]

"The other kind of confusion occurs when a misleading name causes customers to believe -- wrongly -- that a product or service is sponsored by, approved of or somehow connected with a business they already know about. In other words, the customers are confused about the source of the product or service. This would be the case, for example, if you took your TV to a repair shop called IBM Electronics because you thought that IBM somehow sponsored the business. "

FYI, there hundredes of websites out there that may provide a false misrepresentation.
For example.
www.mcdonaldssucks.com
www.ebayforum.com
www.freedomforum.com (www.freedom.com the owner of rgvsports)

[Ol' Buzzard]

The first place to go for possible conflicts is the trademark database of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office at www.uspto.gov. Searching this database gives you all registered trademarks and all trademarks for which registration is pending. You should search not only for your proposed mark but also for other marks that are logically close, such as synonyms and variant spellings.

If your search turns up any names that are the same or similar to your proposed domain name, ask these questions:

--Does your website offer goods or services that compete with the goods or services being sold under the other name?
--Does your website offer goods or services that typically are distributed in the same channels as the goods or services being sold under the other name? This would be the case, for instance, if you plan to offer sports equipment on your website, and the owner of the possibly conflicting mark sells sports clothing.
--Might your website in some way divert business away from the mark's owner because of the name? For instance, could the other owner show that your domain name is so similar to the other name that users might end up on your website by mistake?
--Is the other name very well known?

If the answers to all these questions are no, you can feel reasonably free to go ahead and use your name without fear of creating a legal conflict.



Based on a recommendation by findlaw.com, I checked United States Patent and Trademark Office. RGVSPORTS is not a registered or pending trademark.

www.uspto.gov/main/search.html

[xlobo]

Then lets stick with the RGVSports thing

[wp2003]

does the other board make money from us? NO, is this one making money off of us? NO the only issue is that this site would be "rgvsportsforums" and the other site is/was forums.rgvsports.

[Ol' Buzzard]

Here are the two best sources I found

smallbusiness.findlaw.com/trademark/trademark-domain-names/
www.iusmentis.com/trademarks/crashcourse/

[Ol' Buzzard]

Contrary to popular belief, a trademark does not give its holder a monopoly on the word, phrase, shape or color as such... Non-commercial use cannot be prevented, except if that use harms the distinctiveness of the trademark.

It has already been established that "rgvsports" is not a trademarked name. Furthermore, there is no harm or foul. This forum is NOT a competing site NOR is it trying to confuse or steal visitors from the orginal site. Bases on those two facts, and the paragraph above, I think that WE are entitled to have the forum domain name of www.rgvsportsforum.com

Better hurry, b/c what's not to stop them from buying it first! I'm sure news of this alt. site had to have leaked to the webmaster somehow... I blame the MERCEDES fans!

[Ol' Buzzard]

Jun 15, 2008 23:13:39 GMT -6 wp2003 said:

does the other board make money from us? NO, is this one making money off of us? NO the only issue is that this site would be "rgvsportsforums" and the other site is/was forums.rgvsports.

Oh, that was just the sub-domain name. That is supposed to be a quicker way of getting you to a location w/o having to see the entire URL. For example,

forum.eejackets.com
is the same thing as
www.eejackets.com/forum/index.html

It just makes the URL look nice and neat.

[wp2003]

it wasn't me

[son of corb]

Condolences to you and your family mod.

[TigerForLife]

Condolences Chuck.

[FootballGal]

Jun 15, 2008 23:48:04 GMT -6 son of corb said:

Condolences to you and your family mod.

+1

[redbird]

sorry to hear about that mod, my condolences to you as well.

[RGVF Moderator]

Thanks guys. It was not unexpected, but you can never completely prepare. We're all doing ok. Wifey's Grandpa went home on Father's Day. We know he's smiling down on us.
I'll be holding down the fort here at home while wifey helps her family out.

[Redfish]

Jun 15, 2008 23:18:37 GMT -6 Ol' Buzzard said:

k.


Better hurry, b/c what's not to stop them from buying it first! I'm sure news of this alt. site had to have leaked to the webmaster somehow... I blame the MERCEDES fans!

I don't think so Tim!