Many domain names pointing to commercial websites do not function as trademarks or service marks. A trademark identifies and distinguishes goods while service marks identify and distinguish services. This should not be confused with a trade name, which may or may not function as a trademark or service mark. Trade names are actual business names used in commerce to differentiate one business from another. Trade names should not be confused with the legal name of the business as reflected on the organizing documents of the business. Trademarks or service marks are any names, words, symbols, devices or a combination of such items that identify the source of actual goods or services in commerce. Only trademarks and service marks are eligible for federal and/or state registration.
The United States Patent & Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has determined that use of a domain name as a reference directing traffic to a website does not amount to what is known as a “source identifier.” In other words, the USPTO will reject applications to register domain names as trademarks or service marks unless the domain identifies the source of some goods or services.
This means that in terms of brand identity and protection, you should consider using your business’s trade name as your website domain name. Of course, this is provided that your business trade name also functions as either a trademark or a service mark. In addition, confusingly similar domain names or other relevant names should be purchased and registered upon the formation of your business entity. It’s much better to spend a few more dollars in the beginning then losing business revenue down the road that will far exceed these extra costs. You should also register your domain as a .net and/or .info and also register any misspellings of your domain name that you think could frequently occur (the only other commercially relevant top level domain you may want to consider are .biz and .tv). Then, point all of these domains to your business’s main website in order to “catch” visitors who might use these other domain names.
SEO professionals might advise that you choose a domain name based on relevant and popular keyword searches. Having a domain name based upon keywords can be very powerful for SEO purposes. While SEO is far beyond the scope of my general knowledge, I felt this was worth mentioning so you understand that there are certainly pros and cons of choosing your domain name strictly with an eye toward trademark protection.