C. Making a Domain Name a Strong Trademark

A distinctive domain name gets more legal protection as a trademark than a non-distinctive one does, and is usually more effective in the marketplace. The law grants distinctive domain names used as trademarks greater power to ward off copiers, for three reasons:
Distinctive names are memorable. The more distinctive a trademark is, like Yahoo!, the greater impression it makes on the customer's memory. This strong impression makes it more likely that a similar trademark, say Yoohoo.com used as a Web portal, will remind the customer of the original trademark. Needless to say, that can lead to confusion. Customers may think Yahoo! and Yoohoo are the same brand, or that they are related. They may mistakenly type in yoohoo.com instead of yahoo.com and go to the wrong website. They may be misled into thinking the reputation of one applies to the other. In either case, the rightful owner of the Yahoo! trademark may lose traffic, ad sales and profits.
Similar names are likely to confuse customers. The more distinctive a domain name is, the more likely it is that potential customers will assume that all products and services carrying that name originate from one source. For instance, it's reasonable to assume that all insurance-related services that carry the QuoteSmith mark, as in Quotesmith.com, originate from one company called QuoteSmith. You wouldn't make the same assumption for several quote services that use "value" in their names. The greater the likelihood that customers will associate a product or service carrying a particular name with a particular source, the greater the need to protect them against the confusion that would likely result if another business used the same or a similar name.
The business probably invested time and money to come up with the name. The more time, money and creativity that go into making a domain name distinctive, the more sense it makes to provide the mark with adequate protection. And if the distinctiveness comes from widespread customer recognition over time, it also makes sense to protect the business goodwill that has been built up under the mark.
To come up with a domain name that will serve you well as a trademark, follow these rules:
1.Use a name that's memorable or clever.
2.If you use a name that isn't distinctive, promote it so that it acquires a meaning in the marketplace.
3.Avoid conflicts with names that are already famous.
These strategies are discussed in Chapter 4.