Disclaimer Safe From Trademark Infringement?

[LinxUs]

If I start a website as a resource for a popular social networking site, called [insert social networking site name here]resources.com (just for example) and put "Not affiliated with [insert social networking site name here] or [insert parent company of social networking site here]", etc. Should that protect me from trademark infringement?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Not necessarily. If you had cocacolanetworkstuff.com and had a disclaimer "not affiliated with Coca-Cola" it is still likely you might receive a cease and desist letter and potentially some movement to sue. There have been a number of cases - I think Ford trucks has been after several fan sites for a variety of reasons:

http://consumerist.com/2008/01/ford-photos-of-your-car-are-copyright-infringement.html

If you register googleaddons.com you will probably receive a letter from Google's legal department... this is a common question and all I can say is that there is no guaranteed safe haven. This is more often than not a business call and you may need to accept the fact that you may have to give up the domain.