Many webmaster’s know that when you register a domain name that contains a trademark one could get sued. And many widely avoid the murky and rough waters that come with such a decision. For example, the owner of googlesearchengine.com could face legal action from Google, because it directly relates to Google’s business, but also uses a term that is trademarked (Google).

It was very interesting to hear the story of Paul Dell. Who is he? He is not related to or an employee of Dell Corperation in any way. He is a web designer who started dellwebsites.com to showcase his web design portfolio. Now Dell (the company) is seeking damages from Paul Dell and has sued him.

At what cost? It isn’t cheap. Dell America wants $119 120 US (100 000 euros), Dell France is seeking $59 560 US (50 000 euros) and $595.6 (500 euros) for each mention of the word “Dell” on his website. Apparently, this isn’t a new story. Dell Corperation tried to stop him back in 2002 but failed once they realized that he wasn’t giving in to their demands. He is now looking for any donations that will help him in this legal battle.

I think this case is an odd one. Dell has trademarked that term, but could they honestly argue that Paul Dell caused them to lose money on their computer sales because he made money designing websites for people? Secondly, that term is part of his name. Would anything change if he registered pauldellwebsites.com instead? It would be argued that the trademarked term is in the domain name and so shouldn’t be used. And in most cases this would occur. So does a name go above a trademark? For example would a man with the last name “Nike” (just humour me here) couldn’t open up a store called, “Nike’s Shoes” or sell a line of “Nike’s Shoes”.

Unfortunately, the website in question didn’t use a disclaimer telling visitors that they weren’t affiliated with Dell Corperation. They also opened up after Dell.com came into being and got the term “Dell” trademarked. So, let this be a lesson to all webmasters. For those who don’t know, registering a domain name with a trademarked term or phrase could cost you big bucks fromg lawsuits further down the road.

It will be interesting to see if David can beat Goliath in this rare situation, but I think Goliath might have the legality of the situation on his side.

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