Registering or purchasing a domain name that contains a commonly used word is a bad idea. It can lead to litigation or a UDRP, and it would severely limit a person’s ability to use the domain name.

The io9.com website had an interesting article about common English words that are actually trademarks, and I think it’s something domain investors should read. Some of these words are likely obvious trademarks to some people, but they may come as a surprise to others.

The aforementioned article had 15 common trademarks, but there are many others as well. Some trademarked terms that I frequently see in domain names that are listed for sale or sent to me for sale include the following:

I wish every startup founder, brand manager, and other people responsible for buying company domain names could read an article published by Zalmi Duchman on Forbes.com today. The article is entitled, “How I Blew 50 Grand On My Journey For The Perfect Domain Name,” and it offers some valuable insight to people considering a domain name that isn’t the exact .com match (EMD) to their brand.

Duchman discusses his startup called Fresh Diet. Instead of buying the FreshDiet.com EMD from the owner of the domain name, Duchman hand registered TheFreshDiet.com. Duchman explained that the owner of FreshDiet.com was asking $20,000 for the domain name, and he opted to not spend the money. Long (but interesting) story short, Fresh Diet became a big thing, and Ducman wrote that “our continued growth fueled my concerns that not owing FreshDiet.com would become a liability over time.”

The company ended up buying FreshDiet.com for much more than the original asking price, and they were able to get a deal done using a payment plan. Interestingly, based on the Whois information, it looks like Duchman’s deal was with Michael Berkens, whose company, Most Wanted Domains, owns some exceptional domain names.

The article offers excellent advice to others who might be in the same position as Duchman when it comes to buying the right domain name for their business instead of settling on something that may hurt the business:

I have been in off-and-on negotiations with a prospective domain name buyer since December. I am looking for high 5 figures for this particular domain name. When the discussion progressed last week, he asked why I increased my price from $18,000 to high 5 figures.

I searched through our email exchanges, and I found no mention of an $18,000 price. I asked him to forward me my email with this price because I knew it didn’t exist. He forwarded me an email mentioning the domain name and $18,000 price, and sure enough, it was not from me. It was from a former domain owner. His company subsequently sold the domain name to the company from which I bought it.

Unfortunately for the prospective buyer,