The other day I was approached by an entrepreneurial friend of mine with a problem: he'd come up with a great-sounding moneymaking idea, but the dot-com domain name he needed to perfect it and put it into operation belonged to someone else. He'd approached the domain name's owner with an offer but had received a completely ridiculous counteroffer.

I suggested he try dot-bz or dot-biz. He'd thought of that too, but realized that anybody looking for his business address would be drawn first to the dot-com, the black hole of extensions. He didn't care for the idea of someone getting first dibs on his potential customers. He had a good point.

It occurred to me that he might be overstating the drawing power of the dot-com on his business, particularly as I knew him to be an accomplished web site developer; he doesn't depend on search engine optimization (SEO) schemes, preferring to rope customers in with well directed, adequately funded advertising campaigns.

With that in mind I suggested he go ahead and get the dot-biz or dot-bz extension with the phrase he felt was so critical. In addition I suggested he immediately apply for a federal trademark on his domain name. The fact is, most if not all useful one or two word dot-com domains have already been registered. It's also a fact that most of them have never been put into commerce other than as parked placeholders for advertising; even fewer have been the subject of a federal trademark application. The fee for filing an application is about three hundred dollars, and no speculative domain owner with a large portfolio is going to risk that kind of money on every name. In the absence of a demonstrated use for commercial purposes or a trademark application, a trademark doesn't exist and the fact that the domain's owner was the first to acquire the name means nothing under the law.

Trademark infringement depends on the likelihood of confusion in the marketplace (I read that somewhere, I'm no lawyer!). What could be more confusing to the marketplace than two domain extensions with the same name? Particularly if both sites were selling or servicing the same products. (I think even I could win this case!)

With a going business and a federal trademark in hand my friend would be effectively undercutting the value of the dot-com extension with his trademark on it. The dot-com owner would find himself in violation of the trademark law just by owning the thing, much less by trying to compete against him. My friend would likely end up with the dot-com he so desired at a vastly lower price.

My name is Mike Nardine. Visit my website http://www.CheapMikesDomains.com and buy a domain name, cheap. Our prices are low but our 24/7 service is the best in the industry.