its a little different in the US than here in Germany, that's for sure. Germany boasts some of the strongest laws in the world regarding trademark. Been through the whole trademark process first hand... so I know what I'm talking about, from either side of the fence. I wish it had to do with just internet in our case when my bf was sued, but it had just as much to do with radio... big trademark holder being a television-radio station and journalist boyfriend having written a book on ham radio several years ago (before internet days). They used his book writing about radio to reverse hijack his personal domain name, and succeeded to some degree... not only in causing him to lose his domain name (his name initials are the same as their station, and he has to use them in his work as most magazines here use the initials of the authors to sign the bottom of the article, with a key in the back as to who's who... he's been using his initials in his work for over 20 years and he's known by them), but also trying to declare amateur radio a commercial activity (they want the frequencies) and also... in running up a huge amount of lawyer debt and court costs... to make us give up :( They didn't just sue us either, UBS Warburg ended up changing their name from a similar lawsuit from the same station that sued us... so it can hit large and small. anyway, after that happened, he went and got a trademark on his full name so they can't sue him again at the new site that he uses for work. not a pretty picture... but anyway. Do be careful with using a name of anyone or any company that's well known, even if its inadvertant and even if it is your own name, they can sue and many do, and its very expensive if it happens to you.