Very Important Tip before Registering Domain Names :)

[olddocks]

Starting anything without checking for trademarks can put you in trouble at some point of time or other. It may be possible that in your country the trademark may not be available but somewhere in other part of the world some third person may have registered a trademark that collides with your name.

A trademark owner can claim your domain if it means confusingly similar or infringes their trademark. Some trademark owners are very strict and forbit/dont allow their registered mark to be mixed with other word combinations. Be careful !

Doing a initial trademark search is a must before registering a domain name of your choice.

Always do a preliminary trademark search before you

* Registering a Domain Name
* Registering Business Names
* Selecting New Product or Brand Names

How to do a FREE Trademark Search

Initially it would cost more than $1000 to do a official trademark search through an attorney. The best less expensive way is to do it for yourself. Search the trademark databases available in different countries online although it is not 100% foolproof. I have published URLs to only specific important countries, the complete formation available at WIPO Trademarks Database site.

List of Trademark Databases Online

Madrid International Registrations
http://www.wipo.int/madrid/en/services

Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (CommunityTrademarks) http://oami.eu.int/CTMOnline/Request...en_SearchBasic

Australia http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/tradem...ch_index.shtml

Austria
http://www.patent.bmvit.gv.at

Brazil
http://www.inpi.gov.br

Canada http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/cipo/trade...ch/tmSearch.do

Chile
http://www.dpi.cl/tapa.asp?cuerpo=486

Czech Republic

http://isdvapl.upv.cz/servlet/page?_...chema=PORTAL30

Estonia
http://www.epa.ee/client/default.asp?wa_id=438

Finland
http://tavaramerkki.prh.fi/

France
http://www.icimarques.com/
(access subject to payment)

Germany
https://dpinfo.dpma.de

Hong Kong
http://ipsearch.ipd.gov.hk/tmlr/jsp/index.html

Hungary
http://elajstrom.hpo.hu/HPOAdatbazis...andler?lang=EN

Ireland http://www.patentsoffice.ie/eregister/Query/TMQuery.asp

Israel
http://patentim.justice.gov.il/db1.htm

Japan
http://www.ipdl.inpit.go.jp/homepg_e.ipdl

Mexico
http://marcas.impi.gob.mx
(access subject to payment)

New Zealand
http://www.iponz.govt.nz/search/cad/dbssiten.main

Poland
http://www.uprp.pl/patentwebaccess/d...nguage=english

Republic of Korea
http://kipricd2.kipris.or.kr/eng/

Russian Federation
http://www.fips.ru/ensite/dbs/dbs.htm

Slovakia
http://www.upv.sk

Slovenia
http://www2.uil-sipo.si/dse.htm

Spain
http://www.oepm.es/

Sweden
http://www.prv.se/eng/trademarks/index_rseng.html

Switzerland https://www.swissreg.ch/srclient/faces/jsp/start.jsp

United Kingdom
http://www.patent.gov.uk/tm.htm

United States of America
http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

I searched online for countless hours to locate the online trademark databases of different countries. Just a thought that i could share my findings with DP people.

Any compliments much appreciated as it would encourage me to work more.

[Bernard]

So someone in Hong Kong could claim a trademark violation for a .com doing business in the USA? Or would they only have a claim for domains with .hk TLD?

I'd like to know more about where the boundaries are for international domain/trademark disputes. Thanks for initiating this topic.

[olddocks]

If the trademark is international, they certainly can claim rights. On the other hand if the trademark holder is part of country is a member in madrid agreement then the registered mark is automatically covered in all the members of madrid agreement. You need to find out the list of countries part of madrid protocol.

This is my understanding and should not be interpreted as legal advice.