Can I Stop An Affiliate Using A Similar Domain As Mine By Registering A Domain Trademark?
December 8th, 2009 | 
Author: the affiliate is using the exact same domain name as me, except he has put in a dash ie – between the two words of the domain. he is selling my product. if i decided to register the trademark, could i have a claim against him?
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Yes you probably could unless your domain name is very generic … BUT … you should trademark your domain anyway. I’d be more concerned about competitors getting similar domain names in the hopes of scooping some of your potential clients.
As for your affiliate … you could simply threaten to cancel his affiliate status unless he stops using the domain name. Most affiliate programs have specific guidelines regarding this problem as well as which keywords can be bid on for Google adwords, yahoo publishers network etc.