What is the difference between a trademark and a domain name?
A domain name cannot be protected as a trademark merely because it is your address on the Internet. This web address may be the same as your company name, or may not be. Either way, you may be looking for ways to protect your domain name as part of your brand – and trademarking your Internet domain is one way of doing so.
The benefit of trademarking your domain name is that you can potentially protect against the unauthorized use of similar web addresses which are being used in connection with goods or services similar to yours, and in a manner that is likely to cause confusion with your business. So, if someone is using a domain name that is similar to yours and the similarity would likely cause confusion, you may be able to sue for infringement or pursue a remedy under the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACCPA).
In addition to using the name in commerce, it must be used in a way that distinguishes your goods or services from those of others. The web address without the www. Or .com should be unique. Web domains that use surnames, geographic areas or common “descriptive” terms are generally not trademarkable. For example, Coffee.com or Arizona.com would likely not receive trademark protection.