Trademark or domain: which do you need first?

A domain name is an address you rent from a registry. A trademark is a right an office grants for a name on particular goods. Owning one says nothing about the other.

A free domain can still be a taken name

Registries do not check trademarks. You can register a .com for a name that is a live registered mark for the goods you sell, and receive a demand letter after launch. The register check comes first; the domain after.

A registered mark can lose a domain dispute, and win one

Under the UDRP and similar procedures a mark owner can take a domain registered in bad faith. A mark also does not entitle its owner to every domain with the word in it: honest use of a generic word is protected.

The order that works

1. Check the name against the registers for your classes.
2. If it is clear, check the domain and register it the same day.
3. File the mark in the offices where you sell, before you announce.

Open Trademarks shows the domain line after a verdict, so both checks sit on one screen.