Wednesday, June 9, 2010

How To Avoid Legal Trouble From Trademark Infringement When You Buy A Domain Name

So you have a hot idea for a website, or maybe you want to capitalize on a hot new product that has just been released. There are some things that you will want to know first before you get yourself in a lot of hot water.

Choosing a domain name isn't really rocket science but it is very important. You want to choose something that is as short as possible, easy to pronounce and remember for marketing purposes, and if at all possible you want to get your main keywords in the domain name. All that aside, you also have to be careful that you don't step on the toes of a person or company who may be inclined to sue you.

For example, judges have ruled against domain name squatters in every case where they registered a celebrity's name. They will also rule against companies that infringe upon other companies. A good case in point would be the case a couple of years ago between the World Wrestling Federation and the World Wildlife Foundation. The World Wrestling Federation called itself the "WWF", put up a website at wwf.com, and the World Wildlife Foundation filed a trademark infringement suit against them. The Wildlife Foundation won because they had been in existence for many years before the wrestling firm and therefore the World Wrestling Federation had to change its name to World Wrestling Entertainment. Obviously this cost them a great some of money to change their name that appeared on millions of marketing products all over the world as well as the expense they had put up on their website and online marketing. 

Another more recent issue that is still ongoing is the battle between Apple and the V.O.I.P. product "iphone" from Cisco. Apple announced they would be bringing a product to market called the Apple iPhone to go along with their other products that start with an "I". Cisco promptly filed for injunctive relief and as of this writing the issue is unresolved.

There are a few basic guidelines that will help keep you out of trouble when you are choosing a domain name so you don't run into legal trouble from violating someone's trademark. Let's take a look at them.

First off you need to realize that a name that is used to identify a particular service or product is a recognized trademark. Trademarks that are deemed to be suggestive and memorable are granted protection by both state and federal law. 

A confliction of trademarks occurs when one trademark is in conflict with another and the deployment of both is probably going to be confusing to customers or would be customers concerning the company's products or services. As I illustrated above, when the legal issue is with a later user of a trademark, the law rules that the first commercial user of the trademark is the legal owner and is therefore given protection. The loser will be forced to cease using the trademark and may even be compelled to pay damages to the original owner, particularly if it is determined that they were malicious in their intent.

The smart thing to do is to consult a trademark lawyer and have them check out your idea for a domain name before you invest too much in developing and marketing it.

Friday, May 28, 2010

online casino

Many people are planning a trip to Las Vegas this year. They plan on staying at a Las Vegas casino but have no idea which one to pick. There are an awful lot of Las Vas Vegas casinos to choose from. It is hard to decide what the perfect Las Vegas casino is. With careful thought, you should be able to decide which one is right for you.

There are many factors you should consider before choosing a Las Vegas casino. The first one is location. If you are coming from an airport, you may want to choose a Las Vegas casino that has a free shuttle. If you plan on touring the Las Vegas strip, you should choose a Las Vegas casino that is located directly on the strip. The Las Vegas strip is very long so be sure to choose a Las Vegas casino that is near the locations on the strip you wish to visit.

One Las Vegas casino you may enjoy is The Luxor. This Las Vegas Casino is Egyptian themed. The Luxor is shaped like an Egyptian pyramid. The elevators that go up to the hotel rooms even go up in a diagonal angle!
There are also rides and attractions for children, all of which are Egyptian themed.

Another Las Vegas Casino you might enjoy is called The Excalibur. This Las Vegas Casino is medieval themed. The Excalibur has a show that portrays knights jousting, a midway with carnival games, and a whole menagerie of shops and restaurants. This Las Vegas casino is recommended if you have children.

There is another Las Vegas casino you may enjoy if you have children. It is called Circus Circus. Guess what the theme is for this casino?
Circus Circus has a midway with many carnival games and circus acts every hour. 

For a more adult themed Las Vegas casino, you may enjoy the Bellagio. This is an Italian themed casino. The Bellagio has gondolas surrounding the hotel for a romantic evening. They also offer fine Italian cuisines and have a very exquisite shopping center. This is a very popular Las Vegas casino.

All of these Las Vegas casinos have one thing in common and that's lots of gambling! Las Vegas is located in Nevada and all forms of gambling are legal. Each one of the casinos offers a variety of gambling experience from: video slot machines, reel slots, video poker, poker, craps, roulette, keno, horse racing, black jack, and many more. You can also have alcoholic beverages while you are gambling and many are offered free by the casinos.

You will really enjoy your trip to Las Vegas. There is so much to do and so many different Las Vegas casinos to choose from. You may even want to visit more than one Las Vegas casino! Just don't lose all of your money!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Maritime law

Admiralty law (also referred to as maritime law) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. It is a body of both domestic law governing maritime activities, and private international law governing the relationships between private entities which operate vessels on the oceans. It deals with matters including marine commerce, marine navigation, shipping, sailors, and the transportation of passengers and goods by sea. Admiralty law also covers many commercial activities, although land based or occurring wholly on land, that are maritime in character.
Admiralty law is distinguished from the Law of the Sea, which is a body of public international law dealing with navigational rights, mineral rights, jurisdiction over coastal waters and international law governing relationships between nations.
Although each legal jurisdiction usually has its own enacted legislation governing maritime matters, admiralty law is characterized by a significant amount of international law developed in recent decades, including numerous multilateral treaties.