How close would a domain name have to be to a registered trademark or, patent before you face issues with the company that holds those? I guess my real question is, how much protection does registering a trademark or patent give you?

I don't think that a patent can help when it comes to domain names. A trademark can. I've no idea how easy/hard it can be to enforce your rights though.

It would seem that thus far, the internet is a big black hole when it comes to law enforcement and pursuing rights, especially since so many countries are involved, with different laws.

So with a trademark-how close would they have to come, any idea-for it to be considered a trademark infringement? Would it have to be exact, down to the case of the word?

I'm not an attorney, but everything I've ever read on the subject seems indicate that unless there is some damage to the company's reputation or lost sales or clients due to the similarity of company names, domain names or product names there would be little likelihood of them recovering damages. Of course, if you registered a name of a large enough company or it's product they don't need to prove losses because they've got the money to out spend you on legal fee's so they can do it on principal without having to justify the expense.

I agree that if it is a big company then there could be a problem. I'm wondering if it would be worth your while to go ahead and register the domain and then ask them if there is any problem. If they say yes offer to sell it to them and if they say no then you are clear. Registering the name ahead of time is something I would do and then go from there. If you ask them before you register then they could get it.

Chris

Chris, I have read of many, many problems with that approach. People were basically made to surrender the domain in the end, suffering the loss themselves.

I am not trying to blackmail a company out of money here, rather to protect myself.

True. At the very least a complaint to the registrar might result in loosing control of the domain. I've had to do this and while I wasn't given the registration, the original registrant doesn't have control of the domain either. I suspect that the registrar's reaction was a result of the registrant attempting to use the domain for phishing rather than to conduct real business.

Keep in mind that federal and state laws may allow a business to register the same or similar names in some cases. So, depending on these laws it may be legal to register the name and conduct business using the name.

Registering a copyright, trademark, or patent makes it easier for the holder of the registration to collect monetary damages if a case ever goes through a court system. It doesn't guarantee that the patent holder will win everything.

If you're not marketing a similar item or service to whatever company might allegedly object to your use of the domain name, buy the domain and proceed with the project. If you want to take additional precautions, you might want to buy a more specific domain name: WidgetsByAbbieRose.com, or something along those lines. That would go one additional step toward clearing up any potential market confusion.

There's acting in good faith, and there's acting in fear. Acting in fear is no way to conduct a life.

'acting in good faith' is the important point. If you go in to a project trying to hurt someone else's business or make money off of their business by using their name without an affiliation, you'll most certainly end up loosing.