Registries do not check trademarks, so a domain can be registered and used for years while infringing one. First registration is not a defence, and the cheap protection is checking before you commit.

Two systems that ignore each other

A domain registration is a technical allocation. Whoever asks first, and pays, gets the name.

No registry checks whether the name conflicts with anybody's trademark. There is no assessment, no examination, and no notification to anybody who might object.

Trademark systems are the opposite: examined, published, opposable, and granting rights in connection with specified goods and services.

Which means a domain can be registered, used, printed on a van and built into a business, while infringing a mark nobody checked for.

The registrant usually discovers this when a letter arrives.

What holding the domain gives you

Less than people assume.

A contractual right, with the registrar, to have that name point where you say for as long as you pay.

Not ownership of the name. Not a right to use it as a business identifier. Not a defence against a trademark holder.

First registration is not the test in a trademark conflict. What matters is who has rights in the mark and whether your use creates confusion in connection with the relevant goods or services.

So the sentence businesses reach for, that they registered it first, does not do the work they expect.

The check that prevents almost all of this

Free, public, and takes twenty minutes.

  1. Search the trademark database for the name and close variants.
  2. Check the goods and services attached to anything you find, since rights are tied to categories.
  3. Search ordinary results for businesses trading under it.
  4. Check corporate registries federally and in your province.
  5. Look at the other extensions to see who holds them and what they do.

The second step is where people over-worry and under-worry at once. A mark registered for an unrelated category may not conflict at all, and a mark registered in your own category is a serious problem even if the business is elsewhere in the country.

Doing this before ordering signage is the entire lesson.

If a letter arrives

What not to do first: ignore it, or reply immediately and defensively.

What to establish: whether the sender actually holds a registered mark, in which categories, and whether your use falls within them. Some demand letters assert rights that do not exist or are broader than the registration supports.

Then get advice before responding. This is a situation where an hour of a lawyer's time early is considerably cheaper than the alternatives, and where a poorly worded reply can concede things unnecessarily.

Do not transfer the domain because a letter asked you to. Transfers are difficult to reverse, and a demand is a claim rather than a determination.

The cost of being wrong

Worth understanding because it explains why the check matters.

A name change is not a domain change. It is signage, vehicles, printed material, the business registration, email addresses, every listing and profile, every link anybody has made to you, and the recognition you have accumulated.

For a business two years in, that is a substantial cost and a genuine setback, and it is entirely avoidable with a search that costs nothing.

The other direction

If you hold the mark and somebody else has the domain.

Having a registered trademark strengthens your position considerably, both in a formal dispute and in a negotiation.

It does not automatically entitle you to the domain. A holder with a legitimate interest in the name, particularly one who registered it before your rights arose, may keep it.

Which is the symmetry worth noticing: the trademark system and the domain system each constrain the other and neither overrides it.

The practical position

Check the trademark database before committing to a name. Register the domain and the obvious variants at the same time. Consider registering the mark if the name is central to what you are building.

None of that is expensive at the start, and all of it is expensive to fix later.

This is general information rather than legal advice, and the intellectual property office or a registered trademark agent is the right source for a specific situation. The broader name protection question is covered in protecting the name you trade under.

Frequently asked questions

Do registries check trademarks?

No. A domain registration is a technical allocation to whoever asks first and pays. No registry examines conflicts or notifies anybody who might object.

What does holding a domain give me?

A contractual right with the registrar to point that name where you say while you pay. Not ownership of the name and not a defence against a trademark holder.

Is registering first a defence?

No. What matters is who has rights in the mark and whether your use creates confusion in connection with the relevant goods or services.

What check should I run?

Search the trademark database for the name and variants, check the categories attached to any hit, search ordinary results, and check corporate registries.

What if a demand letter arrives?

Establish whether the sender holds a registered mark and in which categories, then get advice before responding. Do not transfer the domain because a letter asked.

What does being wrong cost?

A name change means signage, vehicles, print, registrations, email, every listing, every inbound link, and accumulated recognition. The search that prevents it is free.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

About to commit to a name you have not checked?

We run the trademark and domain position together, which is twenty minutes now against a rebrand later.

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