If you register a trademark after someone has registered a domain name, are you entitled to that domain name?

[smid]

e.g. you're thinking of starting a business called "Sunshine Productions", but you realize that someone else has already purchased the domain www.sunshineproductions.com 6 years ago, and has just kept renewing their ownership but has never developed the site nor has a licensed business or trademark with that name. You offer to buy their domain, but they demand $50 000 or higher.
If I have a registered business and I get a trademark for it, would i be entitled to that domain?


Note: the name "Sunshine Productions" and the corresponding domain was just used as an example and any resemblance to real entities bearing those names is purely coincidental.

[devdutta58]

If you have the $$$ to challenge a trademark infringement or protect your trademark than your trademark is worth something. Otherwise, congratulations, you just wasted a bunch of $

[tripp]

No, you are not entitled to that domain. They had it first.

[victorio83]

You could try to get the Internet gods to order the transfer, or even take it to court, but you would have no better than a 50% chance of winning either.

Domain squatting is only an issue for established brands, say Ford. You, as a startup entity, would not have the clout to force the change.

[panteno]

it is like this. Poppies restaurant is in the town were I live. it has been here sense the early 1900s. 4th generation there now. And the kids & grand kids. It is Grandfathered. When Poppies chicken came to town. Nothing they could do. And it has just used that name for 4 generations. Never registered. As far as I know. Now if they expanded out of town. Or State. Different situation.

[elkanah1]

Just because a name is trademarked doesn't mean that that business has exclusive rights over the name. A trademark is granted for a limited set of goods and services. In your example, if you register "Sunshine Productions" under computer software and technology, another company that sells gardening supplies could also register the same name, and yet another company that sells solar panels could claim trademark rights as well. It is quite rare for a business to be able to claim exclusive rights to a name. The name has to be unique in nature (like Pepsi or Adidas) for exclusivity to be granted and effectively enforced. Common names and combinations cannot be given such rights. In fact, Apple Computers is far from having exclusive rights over the name Apple. There are over 1000 companies throughout the US that claim Apple as part of their trademark.

[aswynn81]

I don't think you get rights over the domain name just because you have registered a trademark of that name.
At best what you can do is to register your domain with a slight variation like adding a hyphen or some alphabet at the end or try other domain extensions like .us, etc