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If you own a business in New York, and you have registered a domain name (URL) for your business with an official domain name registrar, this does not qualify the domain name as a federally registered trademark. In other words, if you have registered the domain name YummyChips.com, you do not automatically own the rights to the brand name Yummy Chips.
However, depending on the use of your YummyChips.com website, you may be using the Yummy Chips name in commerce. And first "use in commerce" may give you the legal right to the Yummy Chips brand name. But to federally register the Yummy Chips name, and guarantee your legal rights, you should officially register the Yummy Chips trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). To do so, you can apply directly through the USPTO website's Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS).
If you have questions on how your domain name registration will affect your rights to a mark, you can get the professional advice of a New York trademark lawyer. Furthermore, if you own a business in New York, and you want to federally register your trademark, a New York trademark lawyer can help you to federally register your mark.
Obtaining Trademark Rights via Online Use in Commerce
According to U.S. trademark law, a business in New York that first uses a mark in commerce may gain the legal right to that mark. Therefore, if your YummyChips.com website sells goods or services using an online retail model, you may in fact gain the legal rights to the Yummy Chips brand name. However, to protect your mark by claiming "first use", you will have to prove that you were the first to use the name in commerce.
Simply registering a domain name, or advertising that name, does not constitute use in commerce.
If you were the first to use a mark in connection with goods and/or services, and someone has infringed upon that mark, your New York trademark lawyer may send them a letter to cease and desist.
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