Should You Trademark Your Domain Name?

An increasing number of businesses that operate online are trademarking their domain names because of the threat of corporate identity theft. They take solace in the additional security that domain name trademarks provide, and they retain additional benefits, as well.

The purpose of trademarking a domain name is so that you have legal recourse against any other person or entity who decides to register a similar domain name for the purpose of eluding your customers. For example, a person registering the domain name ebay sales.com could probably be sued for infringing on eBay's trademarked domain name.

The fact is that the name of your business is an integral link to your consumer base. When prospective or current customers want to find you on the Internet, they will either type in the name of your business to check if that is your registered domain, or they will search your business name in a search engine. Either method could lead to unscrupulous sites whose purpose is to hijack your business. Trademarking your domain name can quell this possibility.

One case involving this type of behavior resulted from an adult online site who registered a domain with one changed letter from a popular search engine. Many people mistakenly typed in this other domain and ended up on the site with questionable (and offensive) content. Quite probably, the search engine lost out on some business because of this transgression, which certainly argues for the intelligence of trademarking your domain name.

If you trademark your domain name, you essentially purchase legal recourse should anyone try this tactic on your business. If you find a website whose domain name is very similar to yours and who offers the same kinds of products or services, you could easily take the owners of that domain name to court for punitive damages.

This is especially true of companies whose online presence is their entire business. If you sell goods or services exclusively over the Internet, then your livelihood depends upon Internet traffic. If another business adopts a similar company name, your sales could very well be in jeopardy.

However, if your domain name is not the name of your company, you might not need to trademark it at all. For example, if your company name is Jen's Bakery, and your domain name is baked goods.com, then you shouldn't have to worry about corporate identity theft.

Also, trademarking your domain name is expensive. Filling out the paperwork yourself costs around $350, and it could cost up to $4,500 if you hire a corporate attorney to do it for you. It is important to weight the costs against the prospective benefits of trademarking your domain name to determine whether or not it is the right thing for your business.