UK Copyright query

[richard_ray]

Hi,

I am going to buy a domain name and want to check the name that I'm using is not copyrighted - I know that the domain name itself is not being used but I want to check the company name that I'm thinking of is not copyrighted.

Make sense?! Any ideas?

Rich

[Rincewind]

Copyright is the wrong term. You can't copyright a word (unless it's a new word that nobody has used before). You can copywrite a item of work. For example a book, a song or a painting but not a word.

I think what you are looking for the the term "Trademark". That is the brand name of a company or product that has special protection under law. However, this is often miss understood. You can't trademark a word either. You can only trademark the mark. By which I mean the whole image of the logo or brand. That is the font, colour size and even the pictures or cartoons associated with it. The word on it's own is not a trademark.

Also the trademark only offers protection in that sector of the market. Two different firms can use similar trademarks using the same words as long as there is no possibility of confusing them. For example, "Windows" is a trademark of Microsoft. But you can call your business "Windows" if you want. Just as long as your not a software company. So for example, if you are a double glazing supplier, you can use the same or similar words and colours as MS do because there is no way your business could be confused for the same brand.

You can have a search done on what trademarks exist by going to your countries Patent office. You can usually do a manual search but if it's important, pay for them to do the search for you. They will tell you of any possible clashes. It's then up to you to decide if your mark will be similar or cause confusion. For example, if your logo going to be the same colour or do you sell similar products. If there is not possible confusion (e.g. very different products) then there should be no problem.

Easy way to avoid trouble is to pick a new word. For example, google. There was no such word 10 years ago. They invented it. So no possibility of a clash with someone else.