Trademark Infringement

Overview

Trademarks are a legal construct that protects the right of an organization to use a distinctive sign, name, etc., to identify its products and services to customers. The idea behind this is to prevent confusion within the marketplace between one product and another or dilution of that particular trademark. Trademarks usually govern the use of names of products or services, but are also sometimes associated with phrases, logos, symbols, etc.

In operating a site hosted by Granville One Systems, Inc. (“Granville One”), you must ensure that you are not infringing upon anyone's trademark.

This page is mostly of help to current Granville One customers. If you believe that a Granville One customer has infringed upon your trademark, feel free to skip to the Reporting trademark infringement to Granville One section below.

Granville One rules

Granville One does not allow customers to engage in trademark infringement. That does not mean that you can't use trademarked terms at all, but rather that you cannot use them in a manner that could reasonably confuse the marketplace. Nominative use of trademarked terms — such as for criticism or analysis — is generally protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Termination

Because trademark law is rather complicated, Granville One is unable to give prior approval to or otherwise prejudge whether or not your intended purpose would be considered legal under the law. Each complaint is handled on a case-by-case basis in cooperation with Granville One's legal counsel. Granville One does reserve the right to disable any site/account if there is reason to believe that infringement is indeed occurring. Clear cases of willful infringement — such as that associated with fraudulent phishing sites — will result in immediate disablement.

As such, if you plan to use a trademark in a manner that you believe may not be approved of by the trademark holder, it's highly recommended that you seek the guidance of qualified intellectual property counsel before proceeding.

Reporting trademark infringement to Granville One

If you believe that your trademark is being infringed upon by a Granville One customer, contact Granville One. Please read the following before submitting your complaint.

Reporting a trademark infringement to silence a critic

Granville One receives a fair number of trademark complaints that are clearly intended to silence a critic who is engaging in Constitutionally-protected free speech. In absence of a cogent explanation as to how the use of a trademark in such cases violates trademark law (referencing any supporting case law), it is very unlikely that Granville One would act to remove such a site.

One common example are websites created to critique a company. For example, thiscompanyisawful.example.com. These are created with the intent to speak out against perceived shoddy products or services from a given company. Typically, the use of trademarks in such domain names is protected under fair use (cite: Taubman Co. v Webfeats, Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals).

As long as someone isn't engaging in libel, this sort of speech is legally protected.

Infringement with a domain registration

Granville One is a domain registrar as well as a web host. If the infringement you have identified is in the form of a domain registered by Granville One, you need to file a formal UDRP (Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy) complaint with ICANN. It is not necessary to send Granville One a complaint directly.

Where do I send my trademark infringement complaint?

If you believe that trademark infringement is occurring in conjunction with a Granville One hosted site, contact Granville One. Make sure to provide any applicable trademark registration numbers, as well as a reasonable explanation of where the infringing usage can be found and why you believe it constitutes trademark infringement (and does not fall under trademark fair use doctrine). Except in the most egregious of cases — such as fraudulent phishing sites that make use of the name and logo of a bank — Granville One will likely run whatever you send by its legal staff for review before taking action.

You may send your complaint to the following email address:

• [email protected]

Please include your complaint within the text of the message — not as an attachment.