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I'm interested in registering a trademark in the US and Canada but the web domain has been already taken. Would this cause a problem?

Written by Jan Buza

Co-founder of Trama

No. Trademark registration in the US and Canada is assessed independently of domain name availability. The IP offices examine whether the mark is distinctive and whether it conflicts with earlier trademark registrations; domain ownership is not part of that assessment.

Owning the .com or country-specific domain is not a prerequisite for trademark registration, and the fact that someone else holds the domain does not constitute prior trademark rights in either jurisdiction.

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