Domain Infringement Trademark?

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

Got a letter from a lawyer in Florida stating that my company is hosting a domain infringing on his client's trademark made in 1984 for a locksmith company. However, my client with the domain is not as his domain was registered in Feb 2011 and provides services in Hollywood area in Florida.

Is this a lame case? Anything I should worry about? He has a business website with live content, phone number, etc.

The lawyer claims the following:

"It has come to our client's attention that you may be hosting a website utilizing the name "www.something-etc..." which website is utilizing the name of "Something Locksmith" in such a manner so as to be potentially encroaching upon my client's ownership rights to such names and other deceptively confusing to its customers. The purpose of this letter is to demand that you immediately cease and desist from any further hosting of any website utilizing the name of "Something Locksmith" which may be in violation of our client's federal trademark."

Click to expand...

Any thoughts on this?

I found this too
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersquatting

There are two issues:

1. The trademark issues.
2. The domain issues.

What kind of "business" are YOU in? Web design?

What is the "Something" in the name of the businesses? Is it a location, a person's name, something arbitrary, a descriptive term?

A few minutes ago I added some information to a thread in the Online Purchases and Sales section of the forum about a conflict with a domain name that shares a name with an NFL player. I detailed some of the legitimate reasons a trademark holder may have to prevent the use by another of their trademarked name (or a similar name) in their domain name.

You may wish to read through that thread, Chadi, although the answers to the questions asked by FlyingRon are important ones that you will want to address.

Thanks for your responses. I own a web hosting company, hence I'm hosting that domain which the attorney claims infringement. His client with the trademark owns a physical store in Florida and it's a locksmith service. Attorney did not provide store address or proof of trademark otherwise.

It's easy to send a cease and desist, slightly harder to file a lawsuit, more difficult to make a compelling case.

The trademark issues depend whether the other party does indeed have trademark rights and whether your use infringes. Since you won't answer my questions, I can't help you further.

The domain issue depends on whether you have any legitimate use of the domain or whether you're abusing their mark purely to siphon off legitimate business as they allege.

Very generally speaking, if you are just hosting material and are not providing the domain names or the content for a client, you personally would not be held liable for what the client does with either. But the extent of liability you may have, if any, really depends on the specifics of your web hosting company, the agreements you have made with your clients, and what polices are in place for your company.

As for the domain name itself, if your client's company is located in Florida and the locksmith's company is located in Florida and both companies operate the same sort of business under the same or similar names, infringement by your client on the locksmith's mark is more likely.

The foundation of trademark law is consumer confusion. If one mark (and its accompanying products and services) can be easily confused with another mark (and its accompanying products and services), a suit against the second user of the mark could be pursued by the first user of the mark with a good chance of success.

I suggest you go over all of the facts of your situation with an attorney in your area, Chadi. All of the specifics must be known to get a reliable picture of where you stand legally in this matter.

Good luck.