is legal to?

[Iwantabilliondollars]

Lets say i buy a domain name with the NBA word in it.... something like nbastore.com... lets say i use it to sell nba product through an affiliate program.

This is perfectly legal righ? they can't complain in any possible way?

 

[jbtalk2me]

I'm sure the NBA has a copyright on "nba". You can buy it, but using it will probably get you sued.

 

[ohaider]

Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the license). Infringement may occur when one party, the "infringer", uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers. An owner of a trademark may commence legal proceedings against a party which infringes its registration.

Don't use NBA, just try for something like basketball(kw).com

I will look into this for you

plus one post eh buddy?

 

[Iwantabilliondollars]

... uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark owned by another party...

I find it amazing... so, lets say some rich cat comes and starts his own league... something like NBAP, North-american Basketball Asociation of Players... they can sue him?

 

[GreyWolf]

The NFL, NBA, and MLB franchises are very protective of their trademarks. I remember in the 1960s and 70s most little league baseball teams would name themselves after their favorite teams. In the 1980s all those teams were forced to change their names because MLB wanted to protect it's teams trademarks. NFL and the NBA have done the same thing over the years.

If they are going to go after a bunch of little league fans showing support for their favorite teams, imagine how they will react to you wanting to use their trademark for a commercial gain. Next to the MPAA and RIAA the sports franchises are some of the most aggressive entities fighting trademark and copyright infringements.

I'd say the same as others have that you're better off just going for basketball or even bball rather than using sports trademarks.

 

[akrosoft]

It's not legal, I had bad experience with trademark in domain name ....

 

[toyo]

the best way would be for you to email them and politely ask their permission. Only that way you can be sure.

 

[CallMeJohnDoe]

I find it amazing... so, lets say some rich cat comes and starts his own league... something like NBAP, North-american Basketball Asociation of Players... they can sue him?

No he wouldn't get sued because NBAP would be a completely different league that is associated with the NBA. Example would be that the UFL isnt going to get sued by the NFL(both north american football leagues) but u would because your trying to use the NBA to profit off of their long term success.. y dont u create a league from ground zero n turn it into a mult-billion dollar league and see how you feel when you have hella niggas.. hundreds of thousands of ppl trying to steal profits from your league without ur permission.. im just saying.. anyways i need to shut up n make sum money online already

 

[TeenAngel]

Lets say i buy a domain name with the NBA word in it.... something like nbastore.com... lets say i use it to sell nba product through an affiliate program.

This is perfectly legal righ? they can't complain in any possible way?

I would strongly advise against doing this. There might be some long-tail keywords in the niche if you scrape them and/or research them in MS. But using trademarks like NBA/MLB/NFL? Not a good idea. You will get letters from the league offices and will eventually get sued.

 

[Cnotey]

Try using the search button? This topic has been discussed a thousand times.

You cannot use trademarked names in any domain. That's why the names are trademarked, so you can't use them. LOL.

 

[AdisLCS]

copyright, trademark infringement , unjust enrichment among few other things to be brought up.
Technically they can go after you, especially if you have NBA related website where you use the brand for own financial gains. You are clearly not affiliated and have not obtained NBAs permission to do use their brand.

Copyright is $150.000 civil fine, and criminal is - well better not get federal criminal charges, even though civil ends up in federal court many times, than your name is stuck on file and its a bitch to take it off. You have to win the case and counter sue them and win.

There were several cases, even back with the super bowl, the feds jumped on like a dozen sites in East coast, pretty nasty. On smaller stage there are always ton of smaller suits and the infamous DOE 1 thru 200 , just adding ppl to it.

On the other hand, if you had NBASTORE.com and sell Northern Bay Autos Store, you might have a case.

But as mentioned above there have been many threads on this before, I certainly know that lots of money can be made in this but when it comes down too,

it is more than blackhat and screwing some horny dude out of a hand job after signing up with adult_finder. Not worth it.

 

[Ricky Roma]

what about xxxxxx.xxx/nba-products ?

 

[m.rvs2141]

i dont understund why you can not go with NBAstore if on site you will note that nba mean
never be awesome(example)

 

[GreyWolf]

i dont understund why you can not go with NBAstore if on site you will note that nba mean
never be awesome(example)

You could almost certainly get away with that as long as it isn't a sports related site. But I think the OP's intention actually is to target the basketball niche. If you tried using your example for a site targeted to a sports niche then it will certainly be seen as brand confusion which is specifically what trademark laws address.

 

[jdog37]

I am glad I found this thread... Was wondering about this myself.

I can see how nbastore.com would be infringement because you are implying that you are affiliated with the NBA.

I am wondering if something like cheapipods.com or buycheapxbox.com would be infringement as well. Would it be illegal just to use the brand name in the domain?

 

[blackstone37]

The NFL, NBA, and MLB franchises are very protective of their trademarks. I remember in the 1960s and 70s most little league baseball teams would name themselves after their favorite teams. In the 1980s all those teams were forced to change their names because MLB wanted to protect it's teams trademarks. NFL and the NBA have done the same thing over the years.

If they are going to go after a bunch of little league fans showing support for their favorite teams, imagine how they will react to you wanting to use their trademark for a commercial gain. Next to the MPAA and RIAA the sports franchises are some of the most aggressive entities fighting trademark and copyright infringements.

I'd say the same as others have that you're better off just going for basketball or even bball rather than using sports trademarks.

Is my son's Yankee's team gonna get sued then? Sorry for the distraction...back to the thread. If someone creates a new basketball league, he can name it whatever he wants as long as he doesn't infringe on trademarks...and the domain is available. OP, don't use it, you will get noticed for sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GreyWolf]

Is my son's Yankee's team gonna get sued then?

Well back in the 1980s a lot of them did. Not for monetary compensation, but they did make a lot of them change their names.