Seeking legal advice about trademarking your domain name

Once you have settled on a domain name and checked to see if it's still available for registration with Network Solutions, the last thing you should do is make sure that it isn't a registered trademark.. At this point you may also want to consult with a trademark attorney to see whether you should trademark your domain name.

According to David G. Rosenbaum, in his book Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights (Career Press 1994), "Trademarks are used to protect names and symbols that are used to identify products. These can be registered under state or federal law …. A trademark owner acquires basic trademark protection simply by using his trademark on or in connection with his goods." Since trademarks are protected by federal and state governments, you can expect some form of legal battle if you choose a domain name that has been registered as a trademark by someone else.

If you would like to learn more about trademarks, you can search the Federal Government's database for existing trademarks. Also, on this Web site, you can apply for a trademark and read some commentary on "Registration of Internet Domain Names."