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[guardian]

Hello i would like to ask about the use of a domain name. I have register a domain name for my personal portfolio site. I am making custom products and i would like to use my domain name on my custom products. For example xxxxxxx.com. Exactly this name with the .com at the end it will be on my custom products. If someone registers the xxxxxx name am i going to have a problem? Can i use my web address on my custom products?

Sorry for my bad english.
Thank you in advance.

[Kaitlin]

I have register a domain name for my personal portfolio site. I am making custom products and i would like to use my domain name on my custom products. For example xxxxxxx.com. Exactly this name with the .com at the end it will be on my custom products. If someone registers the xxxxxx name am i going to have a problem? Can i use my web address on my custom products?

In the US, assuming that is where you are, trademark rights are developed by using the trademark, not by registering it.  The first business to use the trademark appropriately as a trademark (and continues to use it) has first rights in it.  Registration gives the owner extra rights and makes it easier to enforce all the owner's trademark rights, but the initial right in the trademark comes from using it.  Also, the standard for trademark infringement is the question of whether there is a "likelihood of confusion."

So the important question is whether anyone else in a similar line of business to you is using a similar mark -- not just an identical one.  Similarity of the marks depends on the overall commercial impression people get from the mark, and can include marks that sound similar or look similar and even sometimes just have similar meanings. 

Before using your domain name as a trademark, it would be wise to have a trademark search done by a trademark attorney, who will know what to look for in conflicting marks that may be "similar" but not identical.  The attorney would also know to check both the Federal Register and other sources, in case there are unregistered trademarks which may have priority over yours.

After checking to see if you can find any other business similar to yours with a similar mark, if it seems you will be the first to use it, you can start the registration process if you like.  If you have not yet used the mark in interstate commerce, you may begin the registration process using an "intent-to-use" application.  Registration will not issue until you have used the mark in interstate commerce, but you will get the date you file your application as a priority date, so if anyone else begins using a similar mark after your application goes in, you will still have priority over them.

Sorry for my bad english.

No need to apologize.  Your English is better than the English we see from many native speakers these days! 

[guardian]

Thank you very much for your fast answer. You helped me a lot. I just want to have a personal portfolio as a first step so people can see my work samples. I will work with custom companies like www.zazzle.com Zazzle will sell my products i will take the royalties. That means that i will not have a company. Can i use my website address on my custom designs for example T-shirts? I am not a company yet i am an artist and i want people start learning my work and thats why i want the web address printed on my own designed t shirts. The only thing i want to have as a mark, is my website address. I am writing you more details for what i am thinking to do with my personal portfolio and of course i will wait for your answer before i start. It is very importand for me to do it right.

Thank you once again in advance.

[artchain]

As soon as you take payment for goods or service, you are in business, and subject to all the rules, laws and taxes that affect any business.

This is course includes trademark laws.  Yes, before you invest in building a "brand" for yourself using a domain name, you should take the time to do a basic trademark search, as  Kaitlin has recommended. 

[JSonnabend]

As soon as you take payment for goods or service, you are in business, and subject to all the rules, laws and taxes that affect any business.

That's a dangerous statement.  While at the point you take payment you are likely "in business", you very likely are "in business" before you take payment as well.

- Jeff

[artchain]

As soon as you take payment for goods or service, you are in business, and subject to all the rules, laws and taxes that affect any business.

That's a dangerous statement.  While at the point you take payment you are likely "in business", you very likely are "in business" before you take payment as well.

- Jeff

Good point Jeff.  I often say this to people who tell me they are selling something, or providing services, but they are "not a business."

But you are right, regulated business activities can start well before money changes hands.

Now, how to boil that down to a one line statement...  ?