I see all these forums/websites with major company names in them, for example Chevy, Dodge, Nikon, Canon, Ipod, Apple, Mac and etc etc...I was thinking about creating a site that has a major company name in it, but im not really sure if theres anything i should know before i do so...How do sites get away with using names which are not theirs.

What sort of site are you making? A forum about a particular product wouldn't be too much of a problem, but a static site, selling something would be a big problem.

Here's a thread you may be very interested in, and it may apply to you:
http://www.webmaster-talk.com/genera...r-dispute.html

i dunno yet..Just tryin to gather up ideas here...However i wouldnt be selling anything...It would just be a blog along with a forum based mainly on products by the company as well as other products like it from other companies..

Hello

You can come up with domain containing your company name or maybe product name. And if you find the perfect name anytime... buy it instantly ... dont ever wait , not even for few mins.. and I mean it..

Steve

Ok this is a big gray section.

I brought ebid.lt a while ago and ebid said that i could not use it but if the trade mark company has not ear marked that name for there own use then it is free game. Well that what i found out when they said i could not buy the name but i did and told them what i just said so if the name is for sale then it fre game to you to use and make some profit from it You can allways ask them do they want to buy the name form you.
here are some links that may help you.

http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/it&law/ch4_main.htm

http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/obje...1/228/195/ART/

http://www.iplegal.com/lib/wwwvstm.html