When it comes down to trademarking your brand, and its matching online address, the domain name, there are good and bad approaches.
Quite often, domain investors might want to preserve a valuable domain by registering it as a trademark. That, might not be the best approach, however.
Domains, brands and trademarks. Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash
When you attempt to register the .com, other TLDs can be registered, and when your trademark is about ExampleDomain.COM, someone will get the .Net or any other extension. You’d have no protection for any additional domains that might pop up.
Registering the word mark of your brand is the best approach, so go after “Example Domain” in this case.
If there is an associated design, or image that is of significant importance, apply for a design mark for it – but first, remove the word mark from the design itself.
By applying for just the design part, and in black and white, you’ll be able to change its colors in the future, or associate it with another word mark and perhaps, a different domain name.
Donna Chesteen, Esq. provides expert advice and details on such important trademark issues, in an article titled “How to get the most from your trademark buck.”
