The domain name 4Square.com is coming up for sale on NameJet, and with some active bidding, the price is already over $1,200. It appears that this is a private auction rather than a drop, as the expiration date is September of 2012.
In order to bid on this domain name, a backorder needs to be placed by 11pm Eastern tonight. With well over 100 bidders right now, it will likely sell for significantly more than its current bid.
According to the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, the term “4square” has over 18,000 global exact match searches, while the more popular “foursquare” has over 500,000 global exact match searches.
While at first glance, it might seem like a big legal risk for someone in light of the popular Foursquare brand, the popular Four Square game was in existence far before the location-based social networking company was created.
At what price do you think this name will sell? My guess would be between $15,000-20,000.
Sure it’s not a legal risk if you do something related to the old schoolyard 4square game. But where is the commercial value in that? I don’t think those bid red rubber bouncy balls sell for too much.
Would this sell for $15K – $20K without the famous brand? I seriously doubt it.
I just don’t see the “generic” use being worth anywhere near that price.
This domain carries plenty of potential legal risks, depending how it is used.
Brad
@ Brad
Totally agree, but if someone pays $15k because of the brand, they could hypothetically argue that it’s generic… all depends on the usage.
I need an answer on this one, pls. If I register a Domain name before someone else that trademark’s it, even after a few years, who has the right of the Domain? The new trademark registrant, or the previous registered Domain name registrant? tnx 🙂
@ Zonqor
Ask a lawyer if you have legal questions 🙂
Zonqor, there are way too many variables within your question. Even a lawyer would need much more info to answer your question appropriately. As Elliot suggested, contact a lawyer. You might also want to use Elliot’s website “DomainQuestions.com” and see if that at least gets you an opinion.
‘Ask a lawyer is logical’, but I thought that someone with past experience (I just started) can have an answer, as this is a crucial question for Domineers. Maybe someone can enlighten us!? 🙂
Do we need to trademark every domain that we register, as we might lose it in the future, if someone trademark’s it?