trademark law for domains

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Banana Man

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Hi,

I have a site ps3.ie and am now worried that sony might come a knocking on my door trying to take it off me. Could they take me to court over this or is that just possible in the US?

Thanks
 
daviddoran

daviddoran

New Member
It is possible, if they persue it. Playstation and PS3 are widely recognised trademarks and since they are being sold in the country and Sony operate here they would have a chance at getting it off you AFAIK.

I think what Menace meant is do you have any stronger claim than they would. For instance if you had a registered company called "PS3" or "Prime Services 3" then you would be mostly covered because you have a legitimate ownership claim.
 
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Banana Man

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Well as you have to register a business name to get a .ie i have the name ps3 registered as a business name but i dont actually have a business called ps3. Would this be sufficient?
 
daviddoran

daviddoran

New Member
Ah (keeping in mind I am not a lawyer), I believe this puts you in a stronger position. While logically you would think that it could only be good publicity for someone to run a PlayStation site at ps3.ie and therefore good for Sony, I have seen quite a few examples of "fan" forums such as BMW being taken down by the companies.

They might be able to get you for use of trademarks but past that you'd have to ask a lawyer or someone knowledgable about domain rules.
 
davidbehan

davidbehan

New Member
I persume that your registered your own name, trading as ps3? If so, you are a sole trader and hence have unlimited liability to the "business" in question. Guess what happens if sony sues you and you lose... bye bye house! :D Ah, that's probably a real worse case scenario but it is possible. More likely as a scare tactic on their part if they really want the domain. What's the point of the rules of the IEDR if you follow them and still get caught out :D
 
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