I am about to open an e-commerce web site that sells Jeep parts.  If
you do a search in google for "jeep parts" you will find hundreds of
web sites that have the word "jeep" within their domain name
(www.jeep....com).  Is it legal to do this?  I mean, if Jeep is a
registered trademark of Daimler Chrysler, how can somebody legally
reserve a domain name with the word jeep in it?  Then again, how can
somebody selling jeep parts not have the name "jeep" within their
domain name?  It is a key selling point to drive people to the web
site.  Since there are literally hundreds of web sites with the name
"jeep" in their domain name, has Chrysler simply looked the other way?

One issue to note is that 99% of the web sites have a disclaimer on
the bottom of each page stating that "Jeep is a registered trademark
of Daimler Chrysler,...etc...."

Basically, I want to know if using the word "jeep" within a domain
name is legal.  Just because hundreds of other people do it, I am not
convinced it is legal and need confirmation or persuasion for either
argument.  I will require references to back up opinions.

Hello hal12b-ga

Generally speaking the act of registration is not an infringement if
the name is generic, there may also be cases where there are companies
with the same name (but are different entities in different
countries).
Companies usually take to legal action when people register their
trademarks to use the name to generate traffic to their own sites, or
use the name against the best interests the trademark holder, or in
bad faith. As you are clearly selling Jeep parts you are part of the
service industry to their vehicles, and in my personal opinion are
working with them forming a symbiotic relationship. However if you are
selling third party Jeep parts, that ‘may’ put you in a different
light. They could view you as a competitor to their original equipment
part sales for example. There are companies out there who use a
trademark in their name and the manufacturer takes no legal action and
even something like epsonprinter.com ( http://www.epsonprinter.com/ )
is allowed or perhaps not known about.

For your reference please read:
Domain Names and Trademarks Chilling Effects.org
http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain/

Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers) about Domain Names and
Trademarks
http://www.chillingeffects.org/domain/faq.cgi
where the following questions are covered:
Question: Isn't the domain name registration process "first come first
served"?
Question: How was I supposed to know that my domain violates somebody
else’s rights?
Question: What is a trademark and why does it get special protection?
Question: What is trademark infringement?
Question: Can a trademark give someone rights in common words?
Question: How do I identify the owner of a domain name?
Domain names May 98 D. Michael Rose The Stage.co.uk
http://www.thestage.co.uk/connect/eagle/0510.shtml

A useful resource for Domain Name Law & Domain Name Disputes 
ktlaw.com
http://www.keytlaw.com/urls/urllaw.htm

Here are some case studies:
This AOL case is similar to what you are describing, a company was
using the acronym ‘AIM’ as part of their domain names (AIM is the name
of AOL’s instant messaging service)
Aimster to Appeal Panel Decision on Domain Name May 22 2001
theStandard.com
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,24691,00.html
Another AOL case
America Online, Inc., et al. v. Chih-Hsien Huang, et al., 2000
phillipsnizer.com
http://www.phillipsnizer.com/int-art203.htm
“The court also noted that:
a claim of trademark infringement or dilution arises from the
commercial use of a domain name that is similar or identical to a
person's trademark, and not from the mere registration of the domain
name. Thus, for domain name disputes based on federal or common law
trademark infringement or dilution, the relevant tortious act is the
use of the domain name, and not the act of registration. The ACPA,
however, provides a cause of action against a domain name registration
based on the bad faith registration of a domain name that is identical
or confusingly similar to, or in the vase of a famous mark, dilutive
of, the trademark owner's mark or marks.”

Foreign Domain Name Disputes 2000
Oct 2000 The Computer & Internet Lawyer Aspen Law & Business
mama-tech.com
http://mama-tech.com/foreign.html

This case the ‘cybersquatter won’ 
Political cybersquatting scores a win April 29, 2002 Lisa M. Bowman 
News.com
http://news.com.com/2100-1023-894311.html?tag=cd_mh
Lottery Operator loses Domain Challenge July 17, 2002 Demys News
Service
http://www.demys.net/news/02_jul_17_lottery.htm
New Rules, New Tools, New Threats, New Opportunities April 1, 2001 By 
Desirée de Myer .Smartbusinessmag.com

http://www.smartbusinessmag.com/article2/0,3959,128750,00.asp

In summary I feel that using the Jeep trademark in a domain name
‘could’ result in legal action if the trademark holder decided they
wanted to take action depending on their attitude towards the matter.
However the challenger does not always win, but it would be foolish to
assume that you would not lose and especially against a bigger
company. If you wanted to be clear about the issue you ‘could’ contact
Daimler Chrysler and make a passing comment that you would like to
register a jeepxxxxxx.com name and ask them for ‘approval’ as a parts
supplier to their vehicles.
You may obtain Suggestion Agreement forms and procedural information
by writing to the following address:
DaimlerChrysler
Outside Suggestions Office
CIMS: 483-01-07
800 Chrysler Drive East
Auburn Hills, MI 48326-2757

From a business point of view you are working ‘with them’ rather than
against them. As you are selling ‘jeep parts’ having a domain name of
‘jeepparts.com’ would seem on the surface OK, but then again I am not
Daimler Chrysler, and to argue it in court would be a pain :-0
Technically speaking Jeep is a trademark and subject to trademark
rights, so there is no point in bending trademark rights, but it
depends ultimately on each company’s tolerance level and how zealously
they enforce the rules, if you do want to go down the avenue of
registering a name containing the trademark.

Search Strategy:
infringement copyright "domain names"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=infringement+copyright+%22domain+names%22&btnG=Google+Search
legal "domain name infringements"
://www.google.com/search?q=legal+%22domain+name+infringements%22&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=0&sa=N

I hope that helps,
regards
lot-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by lot-ga on 05 Aug 2002 16:51 PDT

To add to the answer, even typosquatters are having to surrender their
misspelt names which they have intentionally registered to syphon
traffic from big brands when the user types in the domain name
incorrectly in the browser URL bar see article: -
'Typosquatters' Cash In On Misspelled Domain Names Oct 19 2000
by Cynthia Flash, TechWeb News
"The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) this summer ruled
on its first set of typosquatting cases by giving Microsoft, Reuters,
General Electric (stock: GE), and Yahoo the rights to dozens of
misspelled variations of their domain names.
Although some companies continue to direct traffic to their sites via
misspelled domain names, others are facing increasing legal battles
over the names. "
http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20001019S0003
regards lot-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by lot-ga on 05 Aug 2002 17:19 PDT

I also managed to find this article with a summary of the 7 possible
causes of friction with the trademark owner
(within the body of the document)
Grahamdunn.com
http://www.grahamdunn.com/pdfs/iws2001.pdf
"The most far-reaching and problematic domain name legal issues remain
those centering on the use of trademarks in domain names, especially
those involving an unauthorized person or entity trying to capitalize
on another’s trademark. The following are seven different practices
that contain most of the disputes arising in connection with domain
names:....." (read body of text)
regards lot-ga

I do not believe it is so clear as this is a symbiotic relationship.
While the parts this new website will sell help encourage Jeep driving
and customization, Jeep dealerships probably do this themselves and
may see you as direct competition. I know that Honda USA in the recent
past has seen auto repair shops that specialize in Honda and Acura
repair as infringing on their trademark and have forced them to change
their business names if they included "honda" or "acura". For instance
businesses that could have been called "Honda Haven" or something like
that have been told they were infringing and asked to change business
name. It creates a large problem for those business owners as how are
they to let people know what they specialize in without infringing on
the trademark. Especially if Honda cars are their only specialty. Now
if they call themselves "Auto Haven" they have to field calls from
owners of cars they do not even service.

Most people were amazed that Honda was protecting itself to fairly
small one and two shop repair shops. But this is how serious this is
to some businesses. That importance can also change from year to year
or owner to owner. The Jeep corporation could be sold and the new
owner might change it's idea of what is infringing also.

I have also seen companies not enforce their trademarks at all on the
web and let themselves be infringed. One case I remember forced the
company to register the .net version of the url because the .com
version was registered by a cyber squatter who had no business at all
in their industry. This was years ago and it is still the case!

This is really a legal question and should be referred to a trademark
lawyer first and then have some extensive internet marketing research
done as to how important it is to have the word "jeep" in the url to
succeed on the web. Contacting Jeep incorporated while sounding like
goodwill may not be the best legal action at this point. I would hire
a lawyer and let them handle those questions. This is very important
as once you spend money on url fees, directory submission fees,
stationery, and other publicity you will become very invested in the
new name and to have to change it could become very expensive.