For almost four years, I've been running ReignYourDomain.org, a site about domain names including associated legal issues. I answer questions for free, and in some cases, my trademark lawyer helps out (also for free) if she can and the question is over my head. Yes, I tell everyone I'm not an attorney. I'd like to use this forum to expand upon a question we got just the other day.
A person wrote in to say that his/her company wasn't open to the public yet, and the trademark was already in the works, but he/she hadn't bought any domain names yet. He/she wanted to know if he/she should wait until the trademark is done being registered as there was the concern that owning these domain names would let the cat out of the bag. He/she felt that since the trademark would eventually be registered, if he/she found that someone else had the wanted domain names, he/she could just launch a legal battle and surely win them back, so why not wait.
My suggestion was to not wait another minute. Domain names, as you may have heard, are selling like crazy. According to DomainStats.com, there are over 32 million names currently registered, and this trend is only growing exponentially due to the international TLDs (top level domains) as well as the new TLDs expected to be launched next year. Registering a domain name - in a vacuum - does not let any cats out of the bag. If you choose a company that registers you and adds you to directory or lists you with search engines or who knows what, that could put you on the map! I have noticed, however, that registering a domain name has sometimes brought me a bit of junk postal mail and email. Who owns domain names is a public record, so it's hard for me to say whether the companies writing to me just found me, or bought a list containing me. I really don't know. So I have received offers for business services and solicitations to register that domain name with another TLD (like .cc) mostly via postal mail, and I'm sure they got my information from my domain registration.
However, that still doesn't let any cats out of any bags. Yes it shows that someone either plans to use this name for business or hopes to sell it to someone who does, but it doesn't need to say anything else. Could someone finding this good name taken inspire competition? It could, but were you 100% positive you were never going to have any competition? And consider the opposite scenario: if someone had a similar idea and was about to get a domain and go into business, isn't it better that your domain name is not available to them?! Wouldn't you rather have beaten them to that punch?
