Domain name with "arduino" in it

Community Bar Sport
1

Hi,

I want to register a domain name with "arduino" in it, for example "arduinoguru.com". I'll be sharing my own arduino projects on the site. I am 99.9% sure I can do that without legal issues like trademark infringement, of course I am not going to use any creatives and copy from the Arduino company all that.

I don't like surprises, I would like to hear if there is any.

I am noob in this....Also, can I legally have a business and brand with "arudino" in it, for example, Arduino Guru Inc., and sell merchandises like tshirt, mugs but NOT the boards and its related electronic components with "Arduino Guru" brand name and logo?

Thanks :slight_smile:

2

See this page, which explicitly states:

“do not include the word "Arduino" (or derivatives thereof) in the name of your product, company, or domain name without permission”

3

ChrisTenone:
“do not include the word "Arduino" (or derivatives thereof) in the name of your product, company, or domain name without permission”

First, the OP is proposing to use "arudino" which is completely different.

Second, I suspect it is a matter for the relevant domain-name registry to decide whether a particular name can be issued. If the Arduino folks have not already reserved it then that's their problem.

...R

4

ChrisTenone:
See this page, which explicitly states:

“do not include the word "Arduino" (or derivatives thereof) in the name of your product, company, or domain name without permission”

Ouch...A blanket statement like that makes me not even wanna go there.

Robin2:
First, the OP is proposing to use "arudino" which is completely different.

Second, I suspect it is a matter for the relevant domain-name registry to decide whether a particular name can be issued. If the Arduino folks have not already reserved it then that's their problem.

...R

This is true and agreed, but to the point above, most people will steer away, unless you want to deal with possible legal issues.

I think I've made up my mind. :slight_smile:

5

I can understand someone being frightened off by the possibility of legal action from someone with much deeper pockets.

However the proper way to get an answer to your questions about the use of the Arduino word is to seek the advice of a competent lawyer in the country where you plan to base your business.

It would be interesting to know what law in what jurisdiction entitles the Arduino folk to make the statements in the link in Reply #1

...R

6

There are lots of sites that have the word "Arduino" in them and a few social media sites too.
For the most part use on a non profit personal site would not be frowned on ( I am not a lawyer ) it would seem.

You could use the support form to try get a clearer answer.
Yes I know it says "store support" but it goes directly to the newish support team who deal with many different aspects.

Bob.

EDIT... "arduinoguru" is already in use on FB
Along with YT and a few other places so you might want to re-think the name.

7

Robin2:
I can understand someone being frightened off by the possibility of legal action from someone with much deeper pockets.

However the proper way to get an answer to your questions about the use of the Arduino word is to seek the advice of a competent lawyer in the country where you plan to base your business.

It would be interesting to know what law in what jurisdiction entitles the Arduino folk to make the statements in the link in Reply #1

...R

Great advise. Thanks

8

ballscrewbob:
There are lots of sites that have the word "Arduino" in them and a few social media sites too.
For the most part use on a non profit personal site would not be frowned on ( I am not a lawyer ) it would seem.

You could use the support form to try get a clearer answer.
Yes I know it says "store support" but it goes directly to the newish support team who deal with many different aspects.

Bob.

EDIT... "arduinoguru" is already in use on FB
Along with YT and a few other places so you might want to re-think the name.

Great info.

No, I won't use ArduinoGuru. I am aware it's out there already.

Thanks

9

That is the nearest I can give as a NON-official answer.
Good luck with your venture.

10

Robin2:
First, the OP is proposing to use "arudino" which is completely different.

Second, I suspect it is a matter for the relevant domain-name registry to decide whether a particular name can be issued. If the Arduino folks have not already reserved it then that's their problem.

...R

I saw that, but figured it was a typo, since the OP said the site would contain their "own Arudino projects".

Of course if the name is available the registry would issue it, it's not their business to decide copyright issues. Afterall wasn't there a pretty big (and expensive) lawsuit to protect the ownership of the name Arduino? This isn't to say that Arduino LLC would sue a "little guy" just trying to promote the brand, but as they publish their copyright and how to use it (on the page I referenced) they certainly could. I would expect, at least a sternly worded take-down notice.

Robin2:
I can understand someone being frightened off by the possibility of legal action from someone with much deeper pockets.

However the proper way to get an answer to your questions about the use of the Arduino word is to seek the advice of a competent lawyer in the country where you plan to base your business.

It would be interesting to know what law in what jurisdiction entitles the Arduino folk to make the statements in the link in Reply #1

...R

I think the relevant law would be the copyright law in the OP's country (in Canada it would be the Copyright Law of Canada, in the US the Copyright Act of 1976 - those are the only two jurisdictions I know anything about.) It is possible, even likely that the work "Arduino" has been registered in that country, or even if not, and the country is a signatory of the Berne convention, then there would be legal authority to protect the name.

But as you and Bob have pointed out, there have been numerous examples of the use of Arduino in non-official websites, companies and other groups. The page I referenced suggested another legal way to use it though: to ask for permission from LLC. They may indeed grant permission, in return for a statement of non-affiliation or some such.

11

When I said "It would be interesting to know what law ..." I intended to convey the idea that the Arduino folks should have told us that in the document in the link.

Without "provenance" words are not worth the paper they are written on.

It is very wrong for large businesses to bully small people into compliance with their wishes unless those wishes are clearly supported by the law.

...R

12

Robin2:
First, the OP is proposing to use "arudino" which is completely different.

Second, I suspect it is a matter for the relevant domain-name registry to decide whether a particular name can be issued. If the Arduino folks have not already reserved it then that's their problem.

...R

I apologize, I just realized I completely had typo in my original post. It's so easy to type "arduino" with "arudino". Maybe I shouldn't be an "arduino guru" after all. :slight_smile:

For the domain name, I have no intention to mislead anyone with the name. My intend is share projects on the site, not to produce and promote any board.

I will steer away on using the domain name with arduino. For what I am doing, it matters so little. I should focus on the projects that I am sharing. If I really need the domain name, I should ask for permissions.

13

Could put "Arduino" in the Meta words for your site, that way the search robots will still find your site.

  <meta name="keywords"
    content="Arduino" />
14

Google doesn’t put much weight on meta tags in search result metrics...