Can I include another business' name in my domain name?

Probably not without fear of litigation. Why don't you call them and ask them for written permission in the form of a general release or limited release. Spend the $13 to purchase the domain first though so they don't take it from under you. Talk to a business attorney to help you.

This is a very interesting question and the answer is: maybe. First, let me start off by stating that Etsy will object to it and possibly sue you over it. However, that does not mean you will lost a potential law suit, but it does mean that it would cost you a significant amount in legal fees to fight it, win or lose, and it may not be worth it economically. Now, to the merits. There have been other law suits over the use of a brand name in a domain name, which is referred to as "nominative use". In one particular case, the seller of used Lexus cars was sued by Lexus over the use of Lexus in its domain name and the seller prevailed. This is not to say that your facts are the same or that you would win since the ultimate outcome would depend on the specific facts of your situation.

I believe using Etsy in your domain name will cause you a lot of heartburn and possibly money. You will spend time and money on defending your domain name rather than on building your business. I suggest you create a different domain name. You may want to discuss your situation with a lawyer in more detail. Many lawyers on offer a free phone consultation.

I would counsel against this proposal and it is very likely to cost you money in legal fees and may well end up losing. There are at least several potential issues: trademark infringement, trademark dilution, losing the domain name by a forced transfer, and state law unfair competition claims. Also, note I am not analyzing your limited facts to say that any of these would expose you to liability for sure, only that it is foreseeable that these limited facts could easily trigger legal problems for you that will cost you time and money. Trademark infringement requires a likelihood of confusion. Analyzing likelihood of confusion is a multi-factor test, but often the two most important factors are similarity in the two names AND similarity in the goods/services. Trademark dilution requires that the mark you may be diluting be famous and that your adoption of a given name was done to ride the coattails of their fame. I think Itsy is a famous mark at this point and you're clearly choosing your domain name and business model because of their existence and success, so trademark dilution could be problem. Regarding forced domain name transfer - requires that your domain name registration and/or use of the domain name was in bad faith. I am not sure bad faith is present here, however, the fact that registration of your domain name will occur after Itsy's trademark rights have been established is at least one fact not in your favor. There are also likely some unfair competition state laws that might be levied against you as well. Now in terms of domain name nomenclature, where the other's trademark appears in your domain name may be very important in all of the above issues, where generally the closer the other's trademark is in the left of the domain the worse for you (because it is more prominent); and the more that the other's trademark appears to the right or in a sub-domain that may be better for you. As noted, irrespective of the merits, if you move forward with your plan, you may expect cease and desist letters from Itsy, possible litigation in federal court, and/or you could face a UDRP forced domain name transfer proceeding (and out of court administrative proceeding) - any one of which may cost you legal fees to defend yourself. And if you were to obtain a permission from Itsy via license, understand even then, that such a license will likely give Itsy power to shutdown your site if they are not happy with how your site is running - so you'll always be vulnerable to their whims. In all of this, your position would be that your use of their trademark was nominative fair use and using appropriate disclaimers on your planned website might help to mitigate some of your potential liability. Whether such defenses might prevail for you is almost besides the point, as it still foreseeable that your proposal will cost you time and legal fees. So for that reason alone I would re-think this. Perhaps start with a different domain name.

AS noted, it greatly depends. The following link overs a great overview of the issue and a salient case that I think you will appreciate: http://thompsonhall.com/nominative-fair-use-allows-trademark-used-on-website-domain-name/ You are going to have a number of other legal considerations moving forward in ay event (e.g., trademark, business structure, web terms, privacy policy, copyright/DMCA among others). So I suggest that you consult with a lawyer in private and discuss your objectives in more detail. You can start by calling around to several for a free phone consultation, get some insights then pick the best fit to work with. Best regards, Frank Natoli-Lapin, LLC