I used to do business with company X. They loved me then. I had started a website (this was nearly 2 years ago) that promoted the products that I used to buy from company X.
I no longer do business with company X, they are a bit sour and want my domain name that I still do business on. They are in the process of trademarking the text in my domain name right now.
Do I have any recourse here? Obviously, I do not want to yield this domain to them.
Is one of their trademarks or trade names anywhere in your domain name? Is your domain name in any way suggestive of the company name, any of their trademarks, product name, etc.?
Er, wait.... backup... don't answer that. Answer it in your head, but don't write it here.
Just heading-off webwork at the pass. I can see the gears turning already. Any thing else you write here might as well have a flashing red light on it saying "evidence".
They are in the process of trademarking the text in my domain name right now.
Who used the name first? Who used the "essence" of the name first? (If yours is some derivative of one of theirs?). If you used the term in trade first, then, no, they don't have the right to trademark the term, and you should contact an attorney about asserting your rights.
I'm curious as to how you know so much about what they are doing? Have they contacted you to tell you this? Have they made threats?
I'd suggest seeing an attorney, who will be able to answer your questions and either help you assert your rights or provide a defense. Realize, though, that it's likely to be expensive.
[edited by: jtara at 3:29 pm (utc) on Oct. 18, 2007]
If your site now has nothing to do with them, and doesn't contain any of their (previous) trademarks or copyrighted material, then I think you've got a leg to stand on with prior use. However, as will all things legal, consult with a lawyer knowledgable in this particular field for the last word.
It is a generic term.
Good luck to them, then, to trademark "tissue" or "copier".
Woe be to your if your site name is "kleenex" or "xerox". ;)
I contacted the USPTO, to find that the application was submitted just a few days ago. The name I use is actually different that the name of the product.
Of course, I'm no lawyer, don't play one on TV, and haven't stayed in a Holiday Inn Express lately so take what I say with a grain of salt. :)
There are multiple cases of companies getting a domain they shouldn't have been given. From express.com to MSG.com to crew.com - cases abound for extremely generic words and so forth being manipulated and obtained by larger companies.
Some hope - [wipo.int...] - the panel actually found that the complainant was trying to reverse hijack a domain.
But yeah - time for a domain attorney.
[edited by: AhmedF at 4:16 pm (utc) on Oct. 18, 2007]
[edited by: Webwork at 6:21 pm (utc) on Oct. 18, 2007]
[edit reason] Preference for source material over blog links. Thanks. [/edit]
"My domain name bears resemblances to a product that company X sells"
did you sell this product of resemblence for Company X through your site when you were dealing with them? Good if you did.
