Q. Hey Amit, i have been following your blog from 2 years and its very interesting to read all the useful insights you keep publishing. Today i have a very interesting question which can also be useful to all of your users too. I have a domain name which has the word ‘Android’ in it and i wanted to know if its possible to use the same to run as a blog or will have any problems from Google in the future. I have heard that there are trademark violations under trademark law using which corporations can grab your domain names and also these are in most case limited to countries, products, services and to the specific category under which the trademark applies. Should i sell this domain name or proceed with a blog on it?
First of all i would suggest you to consult an attorney who practices in your jurisdiction because he would be the best person to answer this question. There are generally two different types of trademarks, one which are common law trademarks and other which are registered trademarks. You need to contact the trademark office for the type of trademark the brand has registered with.
You should also check out the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy here which suggests that your domain name registration can also get cancelled if someone would file a complaint with the domain registrar. There have been many cases where in large corporations have sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter through a lawyer who represents the company and demands the domain owner to transfer the domain name. If the domain owner denies the request he has to hire a lawyer in order to defend the case and be ready for the huge court fees and other associated expenses.
There are many different cases revolving around the web which suggest that surprisingly not the brand name has always won the case, example check out this story which suggests that a person who had a family name as domain name wanted to win the domain name and had to go through many legal issues.
Now back to the original topic of you using the word ‘Android’ in your domain name and making it commercial, here is what we could suggest you. There are a few Brand Guidelines which are set for the word ‘Android’ by Google which you can find out here and there are maximum chances that Google would not complain to you because they are going to get great positive publicity and buzz. You need to include a footer attribution on your website or blog mentioning that the site has no official connection with Google. In order to get approval from Google regarding the brand usage you need to request for permission through this form along with all the required information.
Oh…good, I was about to start a domain with the word WordPress in it – thinking of changing it into WP now…
Thanks
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Ayush Gupta Reply:
April 19th, 2011 at 5:01 pm
hahah! Maybe you should use WP=WordPress
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aishwarya Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 10:45 pm
is wordpress is bad to design your own website?
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vc Reply:
August 18th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
amith thanks for wordpress help again.. pls chk my site any changes needed pls update
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Aamir Reply:
August 20th, 2011 at 11:15 am
Always better to use wp instead of wordpress to be on safer side..
and thanks amit for google form lnk never knew such form exist, even i have a pr 2 domain with word android in it.
its not getting many visitors but still will submit that form now..
thanks again amit..
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nice answer
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One point to add : Google disable adsense ad serving on websites using google’s trademarked names.. There might be a possibility of adsense disabling on the concerned website..
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aman Reply:
August 9th, 2011 at 8:22 am
Yeah you are right saurabh , but it’s better if we use copyright to our blog then i does’t matter to Google and ya it is Google’s property but we can call them as sharing info………..
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Most of the brand doesn’t allow using their TM name in domain..
For example: Apple, WordPress….
Though they won’t complain until you become famous…
Even if you start with any domain name like android.. I suggest keep a backup domain too just in case if you need to redirect once company ask you to shut down the domain name to preserve their brand..
For example: WordPress always suggest to go for wp instead of using WordPress in domain name..!!
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Amit, you did a great job on here
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tm okay nice
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yes same thing with Microsoft word too until you are famous or that domain is not required by MSFT you are safe once they get to know you will be asked to transfer the domain to them.
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yes , siddanth is righ If Trademark Owner get to know that you have used ther trademark in domain, then you have to transfer the domain to them or you have to down your site otherwise you will have to pay charges to owner If he claims..
Very Genuine and useful Question and Repectable Answer by Amit Sir…
Keep it up…
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Using trademark in your domain names will be your biggest mistake. For example, Friend Finder was using FacebookofSex.com for its adult network. After FacebookofSex.com achieved success ranked at 655 by alexa. Facebook filed a lawsuit on Friend Finder and FacebookOfSex.com which resulted in the shutting down of the site and huge loss for Friend Finder network.
So, never do this mistake of using a Trademark containing domain…….
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It’s one of the accurate answer for the perfect question
Thank you so much for answered here 
Great answer 
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Thanks for the useful insight points.
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That’s the best aneswr of all time! JMHO
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Great Post .. thank you
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Nice solution. Now we can use our favourite domain including popular keyword or brand name. This should increase your sales or visitors. cheersss…
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Hi Amit,
I eventually came back to this post again and looked at my comment. I just didn’t understand why have you approved my comment but removed my blog URL from this. If you want to delete the comment you can but removing blog URL is not good at all. This will lead to nothing but keeping me away from visiting your blog or commenting here.
Thanks & Regrads
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Amit Bhawani Reply:
May 19th, 2011 at 9:19 am
Its clear, Either use your real name or else just some keyword without a URL. This is not the right place for building backlinks at all and especially we dont allow that way. Always use Real Name in the Name field.
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Indian Marketer Reply:
May 19th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Thanks for your reply, i appreciate this. But as you are talking about keywords in a URL, i should inform you that the term “Indian Marketer” is not a highly searched term but is my brand, thats the name most of people know me. PS+ I have the exact match .com domain name of the keyword.
Why would i try to build links and rank for a keyword which rarely or not gets searched. Yes if i use “Internet Marketer” in my comment, then it should be an issue of using keywords in my comment since the the term “Internet Marketer” is a famous and highly searched marketing term. Using the term “Indian Marketer” is same as using my name “Jawed” or “MQJ” or my full name in any comment.
I hope you understand what i mean.
Thanks & Regards
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Amit Bhawani Reply:
May 20th, 2011 at 10:47 am
I do understand but rules are rules and we don’t accept that.
nice post.thanks
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great solution. Thank you.
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Legally speaking this will not affect at all. You can have domain name with other’s TM names.
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you should use youe real name and a real website not just a brand.
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awesome tips. few years ago I was very interested to buy a domain which has Google in it.But one of my friend told me about the copyright law.Well try to research first before choosing domain and always try to choose something unique.
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Awesome post buddy.. I learnt some new things here about using domains…
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I think you can use the TM in domain ….
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Well, if you are on a offshore network, then it doesn’t really matters even if you use a trademark. But still, to remain on the safer side, I would prefer NOT to use it.
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hi,
i have a blogger blog with cutom domain name
i have setuped the dns name to my custom domain
but i also want to upload my file on it like
http://www.mydomainname.com/mymp3file.mp3
http://www.mydomainname.com/mypdffile.pdf
can u explain how to do this
plz reply on cooment
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Very Awesome article which I was looking for.
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i have a blogger blog with custom domain name
i have setup the dns name to my custom domain
but i also want to upload my file on it like
http://www.mydomainname.com/mymp3file.mp3or/mypdffile.pdf
can u explain how to do this.
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Micheal Pope Reply:
August 17th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
Hmmm.. Thanks.
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Hi Amit, thanks for the post.
I was thinking to get a name domain with word android at it. But when I was about to pay for that domain, my laptop was infected by virus and I had to spent a night fixing it.
And I consider it’s my luck since I’ve read your post first before getting that domain name. Yup, thanks to you, now I know that putting android as domain name might back fire at me. I even file a form to google asking about this matter.
Thanks Amit
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Amit Bhawani Reply:
July 11th, 2011 at 1:14 pm
Glad my article could help you on this.
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shriya Reply:
January 21st, 2012 at 10:47 pm
thanks it is useful.
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intelligent question and personally very useful for me…..a perfect article which i was looking for…..thank you so much!!!!
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Nice information on trademarks
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Very nice post …. Very Informative
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Well, the simple answer is NO.
If the trademark owner finds the website, he might legally file a case against you and you will have to pay fine and your website will get down and also you might be arrested.
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Well, I know of cases when Porsche and Sony have filed legal notice, and asked people to surrender those domains… but if you have a back-up domain, just put 301 redirect, and your job is done… Could this be an unethical way to get the job done… start with trademark/kw in domain – become a bit famous, and then redirect? lol…
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ahaa… i’ve seen Mr. Harsh Aggarwal commenting here… great feeling ..
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Irfan Reply:
July 22nd, 2011 at 11:49 pm
Why is it so? I think it was more shock-full if Harsh commented on a low quality PR0 blog.
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It is surely going to be a big problem in future if you start a blog having TM in the name. Nice post anyway!
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ya it is not Good to use such Branded names but why don’t You Try to make your own goodwill rather than taking someone’s else , making your own will be more reputable and recognizable than copied or similar.
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nice post sir!!!
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Using shortforms can also be construed as infringement and brand sullying sometimes. It’s best to consult an attorney..
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well again something very useful to know from here amit …thanks for such post!!
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Nice Information in technology
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very nice & awesome article……..really helpful…..
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Hi Amit,
I have some sites which uses country name in the domain…In future, I am going to place some affiliates link as well…
I think you must be having great research on this country specific violations as well…could you let me know some good articles on this country specific domain which may affect me in future.
Can I get some fightback on how to convince those corporations if I am having country name in the domain?
Thanks
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1 more thing, I have read 1 blog post of Bipasha Basu on your blog. The domain name you taken was bipashabasu.info where you stated how you made money , bipasha basu in itself is a brand , so is it safe to take this kind of domain and earn money.
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Yes . we have to be very careful with corporate companies.Very informative post indeed.
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Well interesting post. Yes its not a good practice that one can use Trade-mark words in domain names.
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very helpful post…….thanks
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Very useful Amit…
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nice info Amit….even i was planning to launch some website with some trademark names…gre8 time info…
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Got lots of information form comment as well, Excellent!!
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but it is no good idea to use anyone’s tm name.
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Hi Amit, thanks for the valuable information. i just created my website.
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It`s better not to use TM in domain name.
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I believe people will file a issue against us we use it!!
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Hi
I have a domain bagmetoday.com for shopping site. is it possible i will get any problem later on on today word is used by bagittoday.com.
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I am having a domain name – Googleage.com .. can I use it for my blog. Will face any problem from Google in future ?
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The article is very useful. I think one should have a backup domain also.
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It`s better not to use TM in domain name.
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defintelly nice article sir… sir am having a domain name bigrock.in .. sir tell me If i m using this plugin on my blog. Will face any difficulty from Google in future ? …please reply me sir……thanks sir for sharing this type of article….
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Alex Shaikh Reply:
January 30th, 2012 at 8:06 am
I don’t know what you are asking? i don’t think having a domain on bigrock.in won’t cause you any difficulty with google in future. unless you get the name close to google or any of their products. I hope i answer you question.
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Yep i also Got Infringement Warning From Godaddy for my domain (godaddy coupon codes) finally i unlocked the Domain and Surrendered it to them
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There are lot of blogs using android in there domain name .. just you have to mention some google policy like it is not affiliated wth google at all .
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Really Great Site.
And the Facebook pop up at the right hand side is gr8.
nice theme!
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It would be better not to use familiar brand names in domain names. Good article with nice advice.
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nice blog post amit, you have brought blogging revolution in India. Hats off to you.
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informative post, thanks for sharing such an interesting information amit……!!!
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