Trademarks vs Domain Names
There are many similarities and differences between trademarks and domain names.
Watch this video to find out what they are:
If you found this video useful, subscribe to our YouTube channel. We post new content all the time!
If you have a brand you want to protect, let's get on a quick call to discuss your trademarking strategy.
BOOK A FREE CALL WITH OUR SPECIALISTS
In this video, I'm going to show you how trademarks compare to domain names. Let's start with what's similar. Both trademarks and domain names help people find you and your business. Both trademarks and domain names operate on a first come, first serve basis meaning that you can easily check if a certain name is available, but also just because it's available today doesn't meant that it won't be taken by someone else tomorrow. At which point, you're out of luck. Just because you are the first who thought it might be a good idea to own a name means nothing unless you actually act on it. Also, you can build value around both trademarks and domain names and you can license or even sell them.
There are also a few differences. The trademarking process is much longer and much more complex compared to getting a domain name. It takes a few minutes to register a new domain name. It takes more than a year to register a trademark. Anyone can register a domain name. You need experience and specialized knowledge to successfully register a trademark. You need to renew domain names every year. You need to renew trademark every 10 years in most countries and every 15 years in Canada. With domain names, if the exact domain name is available, you can have it. With trademarks, even if the exact name is not trademarked, you won't be able to get it if there is another previously applied for or registered confusingly similar trademark. Of course trademarks are significantly more expensive to get than domain names.
There you have it. There's lots of similarities and a lot of differences. What's important is that most businesses need to have both. They need to have their brand reflected in domain names and they need to have their brands protected as trademarks. This is just one of many short videos where I provide specific, no BS answers to your questions about trademarks. Subscribe now and be notified whenever the next video goes live. If you have a brand that you want to protect, go to trademarkfactory.com, fill out the form, tell us what the brand is and we'll help you protect it with a free comprehensive trademark search for a all‑inclusive flat fee with 100% money back guarantee.
Disclaimer: Please note that this post and this video are not and are not intended as legal advice. Your situation may be different from the facts assumed in this post or video. Your reading this post or watching this video does not create a lawyer-client relationship between you and Trademark Factory International Inc., and you should not rely on this post or this video as the only source of information to make important decisions about your intellectual property.
See our answers to other frequently asked questions about trademarks or leave your comments below!
comments powered by Disqus
- Does My Trademark Need to Match My Company Name? (
)
- What Is a Trademark? (
)
- Can I Add More Products and Services to My Trademark Application After It Has Been Filed? (
)
- Where Should I Register My Trademarks? (Deciding on Jurisdictions in Which to File Trademarks) (
)
- What Is Conventional Priority? (
)
- Can I Change the Trademark Itself After My Trademark Application has been Filed? (
)
- How Long Does It Take to Register a Trademark? (
)
- Can I Trademark Dictionary Words? (
)
- Can I Trademark the Same Brand for Different Products or Services? (
)
- Do All Countries Protect Unregistered Trademarks? (Common-Law Trademarks) (
)
- Can I Trademark a Brand Before It Is Launched? (Intent-to-Use Trademarks) (
)
- Is My Trademark Available? (
)
- Should I Trademark My Startup's Brand? (
)
- In Whose Name Should I Apply For My Trademark? (
)
- Will the Trademarks Office Help Me Enforce My Trademarks? (
)
- Should I Trademark a Logo Done On Fiverr? (
)
- How Much Does It Cost to Register a Trademark? (
)
- Should I Trademark My #Hashtags? (
)
- Are There Annual Trademark Maintenance Fees? (
)
- If I Register My Trademark, Does It Mean No One Can Use It? (
)
- Four Things Most Commonly Trademarked (The Trademark Dance) (
)
- How Does Trademark Factory's Guarantee Work? (
)
- What Are Nice Classes of Goods and Services (
)
- Do I Have to Be an American Resident to File in the U.S.? (
)
- How Are Service Marks Different From Trademarks? (
)
- What Are Oppositions? (
)
- 3 Most Important Benefits of Registering Trademarks (
)
- Why Register a Trademark in Canada to Get a .CA Domain Name? (
)
- What is Post-Allowance Statement / Declaration of Use? (
)
- Am I Protected Between the Filing and the Registration of My Trademark? (
)
- What Is Post-Registration Statement of Use? (
)
- How to Use Trademarks to Create a Sense of Uniqueness for Your Business? (
)
- What Goes Into a Trademark Application? (
)
- What Happens If You Don't Respond to Correspondence from Trademarks Office in Time? (
)
- What Makes a Brand Valuable? (
)
- Is Registering a .COM Domain Name Enough to Secure Trademark Rights? (
)
- Why Is It Important to Preserve Evidence of Use of My Trademarks? (
)
- Do I Need an Agreement with My Logo Designer? (
)
- Andrei Mincov's story (
)
- What is Madrid Protocol? (
)
- Trademark Factory Ultimate package (
)
- What Are Official Marks in Canada? (
)
- Trademark Factory I Feel Lucky package (
)
- How Will a Trademark Examiner Examine My Trademark Application? (
)
- Can You Trademark Book Titles? (
)
- Trademark Factory All-Inclusive package (
)
- Trademarks vs. Trade Names (
)
- Look-Alike and Sound-Alike Trademarks (
)
- Will the Trademark Examiner Check Other Applied For Trademarks? (
)
- Trademarking Words in a Fancy Font? (
)
- Will the Trademark Examiner Check Unregistered Trademarks? (
)
- You Received an Office Action. Now What? (
)
- How Long Is a Trademark Registration Good For? (
)
- When Should I Trademark My Brand? (
)
- Why is Google the Textbook Example of What Not to Do with Your Trademark? (
)
- Should I Claim Color as a Feature of My Trademark ? (
)
- What Is the Difference Between Trademarks and Patents? (
)
- How Should I List Products and Services in My Trademark Application? (
)
- What Is the Difference Between Trademarks and Copyright? (
)
- When Should I Trademark My Logo? (
)
- What Are the Two Main Reasons My Trademark Application Can Be Rejected? (
)
- What Is the Trademarking Process? (
)
- Can I Mention Someone Else's Trademark on My Website? (
)
- What Is An Acceptable Specimen of Use? (
)
- What Are Generic, Descriptive, Suggestive, Arbitrary, and Fanciful Trademarks? (
)
- What Is UDRP Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy? (
)
- How Do I Trademark Product Names? (
)
- When Am I Allowed to Put TM Next To My Brand? (
)
- How Do I Trademark Service Names? (
)
- What Are Word Marks, Design Marks, and Combined Marks? (
)
- What Should I Know About Trademarking Slogans and Taglines? (
)
- Should I Trademark My Name Or My Logo (
)
- Adding Elements to My Trademark to Overcome Confusion or Descriptiveness (
)
- Are Famous Trademarks Treated Differently From Regular Trademarks (
)
- Received an Invoice For International Publication of Trademark (
)
- What Should I Do If Somebody Infringes on My Trademark (
)
- Do Trademarks Protect Their Foreign Equivalents (
)
- What Should I Do If Somebody Accuses Me of Infringing Their Trademark? (
)
- Asian Domain Name Scam (
)
- What Are Two Biggest Branding Mistakes? (
)
- Are Dead Trademarks a Problem? (
)
- What Is The Difference Between a TM and an R in a Circle Symbols (
)
- What Does Using a Trademark Mean? (
)
- How Do I Choose a Great Brand for my Business, Product, or Service ? (
)
- What Is Weekly Confusion Watch Service? (
)
- Supplemental Register (
)
- What Are Ornamental Trademarks? (
)
- What Happens If I Don't Renew My Trademark In Time? (
)
- What Does Confusingly Similar Mean? (
)
- What Is a Trademark Assignment Agreement? (
)
- What Does Date of First Use Mean? (
)
- What Is a License Agreement? (
)
- Why Is Search So Important? (
)
- What Are Incontestable Trademarks? (
)
- How Do I Check the Current Status of my Trademark Application? (
)
- Important Amendments to Canada's Trademark Law (
)
- How To Trademark a Name and Logo (
)
- Trademarking Strategies For Life And Business Coaches (
)
- How Do I Cancel Someone Else's Trademarks? (
)
- Why Do Celebrities Trademark Their Catchphrases? (
)
- How George Clooney Made $1 Billion Using Trademarks? (
)
- Misspellings and Other Changes to Get Around Someone Else's Trademark (
)
- How To Protect Your Brand On Amazon? (
)
- Dividing a USPTO Trademark Application (
)
- 5 Movies with Unbelievable Scenes about Trademarks and Intellectual Property (
)
- Trademark Factory's New & Improved I Feel Lucky Package (
)
- The Dumbest Advice About Trademarks You Could Ever Give (
)
- 5 Things You Should Never Say About Your Brand (
)
- What's Your Brand Worth? (
)
- 3 Y's Of Protecting Your Brand (
)
- Matrix of Success 2 Things a Business Needs for Success (
)
- How Coca Cola Trademarked Their Brand (
)
- Trademarks: Certainty vs. Commitment (
)
- Trademarking Process In a Nutshell - TMs Into Rs Brand Protection Formula (
)
- Can I Trademark An App (
)
- 3 Types Of Businesses And What This Has To Do With Trademarks (
)
- Incorporation vs Trademarking (
)
- 3 Nasty Trademark Rip Offs And How To Avoid Them (
)
- Do I Need To Have A Logo To Get A Trademark (
)
- The Real Price You Pay For Trademarking (
)
- Copyright, Trademarks and Patents: What's the Difference? (
)
- How To Create A Killer Tagline For Your Business (
)
- The Madrid Protocol and International Trademarking - Updated for 2019 (
)
- Difference Between TM and R in a Circle When to Use Which (
)
- USPTO Trademark Fees Are About To Skyrocket (
)
- How To Trademark A Name And Logo For Free (
)
- Trademark Classes Explained | Nice Classification (
)
- Trademark Class 35 of Nice Classification (
)
- How To Trademark A Name And Logo For My Music Band (
)
- Trademark Classes Explained For Mobile Apps (
)
- Trademark Classes For Clothing Everything You Need To Know (
)
- How To Create A Great Brand Name (J.U.M.P Brands) (
)