[herpderperator]

I've asked this before, but is having a domain name with someone else's business name in it allowed? The answer I was given last time was you can buy it it but you might not get to keep it. Still, I can't help but think it would be inevitable legal trouble.

[slyall]

100% chance that stackoverflow will be sending nasty notes to the author (who appears to live in the US). 100% chance he'll have to take it down or change the name.

You really can't use the exact name of the people you are cloning. Even something like "stackrobot" would risky. Safest thing is to not use any words from the original product.

[codetrotter]

Call it SObot, as in Stack Overflow Robot, but without using the name “Stack Overflow”.

[_8j50]

They don't need to send notes, they can just take it over under cybersquatting laws. Although, that is for US TLDs not .gg.

[lancefisher]

It comes down to trademarks. ICANN has a dispute resolution process if someone else registered a domain for which you have an applicable trademark. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en

This process may vary based on the TLD. For The Channel Islands, you can start here: https://disputes.gg/

IANAL

[nkozyra]

On the other hand, it's a great way to get a contact at SO, assuming anyone other than lawyers finds out about it.

[throwanem]

No one other than lawyers or lawyer accessories is going to represent the company to the domain owner about it, though.

Source: Ages ago I had a personal domain based on a longstanding nick that happened to partially coincide with the name of a major motion picture studio. That it was a paralegal who called me said they weren't anxious to take it seriously, and all they were really after was just getting me to say it was nothing to do with them so they had me on record in case I later did make it something to do with them. No big deal, but it wasn't like if I had a treatment burning a hole in my pocket I could've parlayed the conversation into a chance to submit it. And even at that, I doubt this will be anything like so simple and nonadversarial.

[nkozyra]

> No one other than lawyers or lawyer accessories is going to represent the company to the domain owner about it, though.

Of course. Here's the plausible chain of events:

1. Someone at the co. reads about this on HN 2. They tell their boss who might tell their boss, etc. 3. It finally gets to someone who is responsible for telling the lawyers. But they also say "hey this is kind of cool. We'll send a C&D, but maybe reach out to see if there's anything interesting there."

[throwanem]

I guess it's not implausible somebody would try to open a nonadversarial conversation simultaneously with sending a C&D, but I will say I've never seen it done that way, and I suspect there's a good reason why not.

(Not least because escalating something to counsel, and then having side conversations about it with whoever you just brought to counsel's attention, is a bad idea!)

And that's if they see something here they might want to investigate further, which given SO's stance on ML-generated answers up to this point, I tend somewhat to doubt.

[nkozyra]

To be fair, I don't think the two things would happen concurrently.

I have, in fact, seen this exact scenario!

I don't think it's likely, but losing a domain is a small price to pay if that were potentially a goal.

[throwanem]

Sure, it makes sense to start with the friendly conversation and escalate to a C&D if that proves to be needed.

Deliberately infringing someone's trademark with a domain name seems to me like a dicey way to look for attention, though. But hey, "it's a bold strategy, Cotton, let's see if it pays off for 'em."

[quickthrower2]

One weird tip to get a date!

[nonethewiser]

Yeah this definitely seems like some sort of infringement. Or at least likely to attract the concern of SO.

[renonce]

The owner of a simple hobby project like this, without SEO or sign-in or whatsoever, probably don’t need to care so much to protect his domain. If StackOverflow asks for his domain he can just give it away and set up the site at a new domain name.

[primitivesuave]

If they have the motivation/resources to go through the process, no- even a branding like “staqoverflow” would be infringement if they engage in the same type of activity as the trademark registration.

[quickthrower2]

Complicated question because it os trademark law. “AppleBakeryChicago” probably doesn’t have to worry about Apple Inc suing them. In the case of this site they should be worried.

[dubcanada]

Simple answer is no. They will lose the domain very fast.

[andsoitis]

they should rename their project to stackunderflow

[idkwhoiam]

What you're saying is every business name needs to be unique world-wide

[dubcanada]

No he’s not saying that. He’s saying you cannot start a company called Apple in Mexico that sells smartphones. There are two components, what you provide as a service and your name. You just cannot do both.

But you could start a company called Stack Overflow that sells cookies in Austria. They may still try to sue you but then it comes down to an actual argued case and debates and such. This is just complete copy.

[0xFF0123]

Yes, if it's trademarked and the businesses operate in a similar problem space.