Domain name vs trademark
Buying a domain name and registering a trademark are unrelated legal acts. People assume one implies the other. It does not, and the assumption is expensive in both directions.
A domain name is a rental. You pay a registrar for the exclusive right to point one string of text at a server, and you keep it as long as you keep paying. It gives you no right to stop anyone using that name for their business, their product, or the same name on a different extension.
A trademark is a property right in a name used for particular goods or services. It lets you stop other people using that name, or a confusingly similar one, in the sectors you registered it for. It says nothing about who holds the matching domain.
What each one actually gets you
Two different rights
- What it is
- Domain nameA rental from a registrar
- TrademarkA registered property right
- Term
- Domain nameAnnual, renewable indefinitely
- Trademark10 years, renewable indefinitely
- Scope
- Domain nameThat exact string, that extension
- TrademarkThe name and similar names, in your classes
- Stops a competitor using the name
- Domain nameNo
- TrademarkYes
- Gets you the matching domain
- Domain namen/a
- TrademarkNot automatically
- Cost
- Domain nameAbout €10 to €40 a year
- TrademarkFrom €715 in the UK, €1,530 in the EU
Comparing Domain name with Trademark. What it is: Domain name, A rental from a registrar. Trademark, A registered property right. Term: Domain name, Annual, renewable indefinitely. Trademark, 10 years, renewable indefinitely. Scope: Domain name, That exact string, that extension. Trademark, The name and similar names, in your classes. Stops a competitor using the name: Domain name, No. Trademark, Yes. Gets you the matching domain: Domain name, n/a. Trademark, Not automatically. Cost: Domain name, About €10 to €40 a year. Trademark, From €715 in the UK, €1,530 in the EU.
Register the trademark first, or at least check first
The order that causes trouble is: buy the domain, build the brand, then discover the name was already registered as a trademark by somebody else. At that point you either rebrand or defend an infringement claim, and the domain is the least of it.
The reverse order has a smaller failure mode. If you clear and register the trademark first and the domain is taken, you have options: buy it, use a different extension, or if the holder registered it in bad faith, file a UDRP complaint and have it transferred.
In practice most businesses buy the domain the day they think of the name, because it costs €12 and it might go. That is fine. Just do not treat it as protection, and run a clearance search before you print anything or file anything.
An available domain does not mean an available name
This is the misunderstanding that causes the most damage. Domain availability tells you one thing: nobody has registered that exact string on that exact extension. It tells you nothing about whether an identical trademark exists in your sector, in your country, or across the EU.
Trademark registers and domain registries are separate systems that do not talk to each other. A name can be free on every extension and still be a registered EU trademark owned by somebody who will object the moment you start trading.
Having a trademark is what lets you recover a domain
The two systems connect at exactly one point, and it works in one direction.
To win a UDRP complaint you must first prove rights in a trademark. Without that, the complaint fails at the first element and nothing else matters. Registered rights are the cleanest way to prove it, though unregistered rights can work if you can evidence real trading reputation, which is harder and more expensive to prove than simply having a registration.
So a trademark registration is not just protection against competitors. It is the key that unlocks the domain recovery process.
What to do
- Check the name is free as a trademark in the territories you will trade in, before you commit to it.
- Register the domain immediately, on the extensions that matter to you.
- File the trademark. In the EU that is €1,530 for one class, or about €895 if you qualify for the SME Fund.
- If somebody already holds the domain and registered it in bad faith, we can pursue a transfer.