using paypal in my domain name

[nvc]

Hello everyone,
I recently bought a domain name with paypal in it. When I made the purchase I didn't realize that using a company's trademark in the domain will probably constitute a violation of the rights. Am I right?
I've seen a colleague with domain netentcasino dot com which is the same case. When I visit their site they have that sticky note in the Header - NetEntCasino_com is not part of, related to or have any commercial relationship with Net Entertainment AB.
Should I proceed with building the site or the risk too big losing the domain after PayPal claim their rights.

[chaumi]

I would say you'd be taking too big a risk if you use it.

It may be that they'd ignore it, it may be that even if they did come after they might do it nicely with a 'please just hand it over message. Or, of course, the approach - if and when it comes - could be more heavy-handed.

But building up a site takes considerable effort and time (and maybe money). It would be painful to go through that, build your site successfully, and then have to pull it down with nothing to show for your efforts. And then have to do it all from scratch again (having the content is only part of the process).

Better to find a more generic domain and work on it without the potential problem hanging over you.

[universal4]

Using a trademarked brand name in a domain name is always risky.

Rick
Universal4

[xecutable]

This was discussed in a different thread. The only case where you can use a trademark is if it's satire/negative domain, like PaypalSucks which has been online forever. Otherwise once they are aware of the domain it will be shutdown extremely fast.

To quote Sherlock from the previous thread "It is called UDRP and no judge is needed...." which was a reply to my "and these things go down extremely fast. Like a DMCA, followed by an expedite claim, where the judge rules in favor of the brand literally right away."

I guess you can ask for permission but even then, just because they promised they wont go DMCA on you, doesn't mean they would honor that. I know for a fact (in the gambling space) that some brands DO NOT care that you use their name in the domain, as long as you bring them traffic.

[Topboss]

I would rather give it up before you invest time and money into it, because even if Paypal doesn't do anything immediately, it would be hanging over your head all the time and the last thing you want is to spend time and money building it up, only to have it taken from you.

We learnt the hard way - Many years ago we registered a domain called 32royal.com. The name was based on the fact that my husband and I always used to bet on the number 32 on the roulette table and we loved playing video poker, so it genuinely had no connection to 32red. In fact it was so long ago that I can't even be sure if 32red even existed then. ( I am talking back in 2001)

We eventually turned the site into a white label casino ( through Euro Partners who still had an iota of decency back then ) The site was doing quite well with a decent base of players built up when we received a letter of demand from 32Red saying that they have a trademark on the number "32" - who would have thought you could have a trademark on a common number!!!

We had no choice but to hand everything over to them and lost our whole player base as well as the website.

[Oliver Cooper]

Daamn! Sorry for that, sounds really dramatic. But I'm confused, how they could have a trademark on the number "32"

[Strider1973]

Forget it.

PS: If you have to ask if something is right, it probably isn't right...

[freespinsnodeposit]

As others have said, it's not worth the risk. I remember seeing a site before with PayPal in the domain name. I managed to find it on page 6 when searching for "best paypal bingo sites" in the UK. Looks like the site has been around for a while as they've still got Sky Bingo on there which shows it's definitely not being worked on.

Also, as you probably know, NetEntCasino is owned by Catena and was one of their early sites (think an early acquisition). I'm sure they have a handshake agreement with Evolution as the site has been around since 2012 when it was netentcasino(.)nl.

One morning you could wake up with a UDRP complaint from PayPal and then you'd have to switch the content somewhere else and handover the domain. Don't risk it.

[petimi]

My advice would be also to forget the domain and change it. Personally, in the past, I had to give up domains due to using trademark in them.
Paypal in particular is one of the companies who will go after you - just google Paypal cease and desist cases and you will find multiple examples.

[bi6liotekar]

I would not risk my efforts and time. In addition, even if the domain is not taken away, there may be problems with its monetization due to the brand in the name.

[6takarakuji]

I would not use any domain with any type of payment method in the domain name. I've been contacted multiple times by Skrill, asking me to take down all Skrill related articles on my site, even though I'm just reviewing them as a payment method and using their logo in the article.

If the domain you purchased has a lot of backlinks going to it, then I would 301 redirect it to a new domain with a similar name. Let's say your domain name is paypalbrandy DOT com, then I would purchase a domain like brandycasino DOT com or similar and 301 redirect.