Resolving trademark/domain name issue?

[Betty Schafer <betty.schafer@dir.org>]

Boys ..... and girls!!

May I publicly thank all 39 of you for your favourable responses to my
mixed playground analogy. I was unaware there were so many "lurkers" on
this list, I'm going to temporarily hop off the fence!

I have a few questions:

Does failure to use a granted Trademark in commerce and the failure to
periodically publicise, in a public forum, that a trademark has been
granted, diminish the State protection afforded to a granted trademark?


If a Trademark Owner has acted diligently and has publicised the fact
that HE has the exclusive right to use a mark within a given area and
business activity, then any person infringing or diluting this Right
would be breaking the Law of that jurisdiction.  

Within the World Wide Web context, physically restricting users access
to specific geographical jurisdiction is technically complicated, and
almost impossible. This frustrates the rights of the Trademark Owner and
is fundamentally the problem we are in today. 

Ignoring the matter of dilution for this question, does this imply
therefore that I could use the domain name IBM.WIZ and sell computers
from my offices in the US, provided I never sold a computer to any
person within a jurisdiction where IBM had a valid trademark?

Conversely, could I legally trade under the name IBM and sell soft
drinks in the US and have a domain called IBM.DRINKS? 

Thus an applicant who applied for a Domain Name, without checking that
it did not conflict with a State granted right, would be on thin ice and
liable for a considerable fall the moment HE traded in the designated
jurisdiction.

I welcome your response.

Rgds,

Betty.
--
__________________________________________________________________
Betty Schafer - Director, Trademark Directory Division.
mailto:betty.schafer@dir.org              <http://www.trademark.org
Directory Corporation, Universal House, Nassau, PO N-3401, Bahamas
__________________________________________________________________