Hello Friends:
I know I have neglected this blog, but I have been so busy working. In addition, I have experienced major life changes in the past six months.
But it is good to be back. I am really excited about the new social media platforms and changes in the social media space in the past year. Pinterest and Instagram are blowing up and with their popularity comes a host of issues and questions regarding copyright law. Apple is still tangled in a battle for use of the iPAD name. And, with the emergence of mobile apps and computing, privacy concerns are very real and immediate for consumers.
In the next few weeks, I will give insight on these legal issues and hopefully provide an understanding on how to protect your valuable intellectual property, your privacy, and tips on how to not infringe on other's IP. So tune in and if you have any questions, please do email me at lgivens@phillipsgivenslaw.com.
Today, I want to talk about domain names. As a branding strategy, always think of domain names as trademarks. So choose a domain name carefully. Domain names can be business names, product names, blog names, or tag lines. All of these can be trademarks if they are unique to a product or service. For example, my blog name is IPLAW101, which is also the domain name for the blog and is a trademark. It is a trademark because it is unique in describing my blog's original content.
Sometimes cybersquatters or trademark infringers may use a variation of an owner's domain name or an owner's actual trademark name in order to divert traffic from the owner's site or to benefit from the goodwill one has built from a good trademark. If your domain name is also your trademark, you can pursue these infringers through cease and desist orders. From my experience, cybersquatters and trademark infringers usually cease infringement or give up the rightful owner's domain name if they know further legal action is pending.
If you have any comments, please leave one.
Until next time,
Latoicha Givens
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