Trademark "Star Trek" related Domain Name

[BirdOPrey5]

Many many years ago I registered a domain name that is a common word in the fictional language "Klingon" made popular by Star Trek. I believe I was the second person ever to register this domain as the first owner let the domain expire after a couple of years (this was back in the 90's why domains still expired and weren't held hostage by registrar companies).

I haven't developed the domain much, I used it for a couple of pet projects over the years and maintain a very inactive forum on it at the moment. Several years ago I got an email from some company claiming they had rights to the domain and I ignored them because I seriously doubted they had a case.

I have not been contacted since and I doubt they even exist anymore. But I always worry in the back of my mind if this domain is safe or if someone is going to be able to take it away one day- can every word in the Klingon language be Copyrighted or Trademarked by the Star Trek franchise? Do you think I have anything to worry about?

Thanks for any input you may have.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

A word in a fictional Klingon language probably does not violate any trademark law. This is just a guess as there is a possibility that registering a Klingon name could be a violation, especially if there is an issue of confusion of the public as to Star Trek's trademark rights.

It is very common for legal letters to be sent by attorneys, directed by companies, in the hope of scaring owners into submission and handing over their domains for free. Without seeing the letter and context of the statement, I can't make any definite statement but it seems that they obviously didn't think this case was worth pursuing - assuming there was even a case to be made in the first place.