Site/domain legal issues

[MattM]

I've been thinking about purchasing a domain, we'll call it keywordkeyword.com (the second keyword is NOT the same as the first keyword, it is different).

Now, keyword.com, has already been registered and is a site. Keyword is trademarked, as a show is called Keyword and of course the site's name is called Keyword, they are both from the same company. However, keyword is also a generic term, nothing like a name of Disney, Pepsi, etc.

My question is, if I register keywordkeyword.com (again, the second keyword is NOT the same as the first keyword, it is different) and it is about the same topic as keyword.com, could I face any legal action from keyword.com because it is about the same topic or because they think I have registered it in bad faith?

The reason I ask, even though Keyword is a generic term, I can't believe that several domain names including keywordkeyword.com are even available, as I would of thought they would been registered by now and for sale for some high price or already have a site on it, so it made me wonder if no one has registered it because of possible legal action from keyword.com.

Whew, hopefully that wasn't too confusing with all those keywords. :)

[Chris]

You can always face potential legal action. People don't need a reason to sue you.

But I would think that if the name is a generic word you should have no problems.

[paul]

In the USA you can "face legal action" at any time, for anything, anyone feels like filing against you. If it is a dumb case, an attorney will probably require a retainer. If the party who wants to sue is willing to pay, the suit will get filed. Then you have to defend yourself. None of this has anything to do with the "merits" of the case. That is what the court decides. The problem is the process of getting the court to decide is terribly expensive.

You have to make a judgment call. If you register the name they can sue you. If they sue, you will have to decide if it is worth it to defend. If you defend you may or may not win.

There is nothing to prevent them from ignoring your site until it is successful and filing suit then.

This is why owners of successful businesses frequently incorporate or set up an LLC, drain cash with high salaries or high interest notes to related entities, and partition the assets to reduce their value. (For example, if a high value domain is held inside a family limited partnership and leased to an LLC, the lawsuit would have to prevail against both the LLC and the partnership to get to the money.)

I am not a lawyer and the above seriously oversimplifies the situation, but you get the idea.

[incka]

A guy has a had yahoogamez.com as a website competing with games.yahoo.com for several years and has not been sued.

[chromate]

To cut to the chase, it's unlikely any company will go to the expense to sue you as an individual unless you're really generating hefty revenue that would otherwise belong to them or your site is bad for their corporate image etc. They're far more likely to get their lawyers to ask you to take your site down, if anything at all.

[MattM]

To cut to the chase, it's unlikely any company will go to the expense to sue you as an individual unless you're really generating hefty revenue that would otherwise belong to them or your site is bad for their corporate image etc. They're far more likely to get their lawyers to ask you to take your site down, if anything at all.
Yeah, the amount of content that would be on my site would be very small compared to the amount on keyword.com. Thanks everyone, if anyone else has any other input, please reply.