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if I disclose the domain name, you will see it's just common word. eg. If someone registered the F word as a trademark, how many people are abusing their brand everyday... xD
thanks for the explanation. The domain just contains a daily common word, it's got nothing fancy. I don't know how they managed to register a common term as a trademark before however, in this case, it doesn't sound very good if using a common word for a domain has become a potential threat to their brand.
You shouldn't use Apple as your domain :P
Fair enough. It makes sense. Gotta love Capitalism xD
Is it just say .. apple.com.au ?
If it's got nothing to do with them content wise you should be fine, or alternatively just ask them to buy it off you for a small price / fee for parting with a name you've had for X amount of time, perhaps give them traffic stats if any.
They obviously produced a convincing documentation proving that this common term is unambiguously associated with their products and services, and no one challenged them on due terms.
They may contact you for a variety of reasons: they may want to just scare you of even thinking to use the domain to compete with them, and/or they want to collect your trademark usage claims while they plan further trademark registrations. Back to your original question: you are not compelled to reveal personal or business informations at this stage, but you may check if they really are the trademark owner. If this is the case, you may give a polite reply asking back your doubts. If you plan to use the domain name for a commercial venture, a mutual understanding at this stage may be cheaper and more effective than a litigation in the future.
This is just my personal feeling. As @Dylan said, you did not show enough information to frame your case, and a public forum is not the proper place to discuss this matter.
As general rule, is best to check the major trademark databases before starting to use a domain for commercial purposes, or you may face surprises.
This doesn't sound like they are trying to threaten or scare you, just reply back with what your website is about and that you mean no harm!
now we have to have the proper trademarks or make sure nobody has 'em already before registering a domain name? f$$$ what has the world become?
i suggest you incorporate a dormant company to have a right in that name. maybe in UK or in your home country if it's easy. i don't know if incorporation is easy in AU, but i know it's pretty easy in NZ maybe try that
this might quite possibly be terrible legal advice, as i'm not a legal expert
@kerouac: Your advice is not one of the best, because on most country the trademark needs to be actually used. Registering a trademark in the name of a dormant company in EU could result in trademark revocation. Maybe you should register it in China, one of few countries with peculiar trademark laws. In China, the trademark is owned by the first one that register it, and actual use is not relevant. Let's say you register a trademark in USA and not in China. Someone in China will look in the USA trademark database and register it asap, then it will come to you asking a fee if you ever dare to use your own trademark in China.
Thank you, Pcan. I checked the information of the trademark registration on both the US side and AU side. They do own the trade mark in the US but in AU this keyword is owned as a trademark by other company. I sent them an mail kindly asking them to provide further information if they own the AU trademark or it's registered as an international trademark or sth, they replied as following: sounds like they don't mind me using it because it's just common word and they just want to know the use of the domain to avoid confusion for customers:
`Thank you for responding Mr. XXX. No offense taken whatsoever. I appreciate your questions.
We do not have TM protected afforded by Australia for keyword, however, part of the regulatory framework for the new top level domains, such as .red, provides that as a holder of a registered trademark in the U.S., we have certain rights regarding use of our mark in a domain name.
We are simply inquiring about the intended use of the domain in order to determine if it has any relation to our use of the mark keyword.
Again, thank you for your time`