Own a domain name that I think I can sell to a particular company

[Bubzeebub]

A particular company might have some interest in a domain name I own. I plan on contacting them to see if they'd like to buy it.

1) What's the process of selling/buying a domain?
2) What's the best way to value it?

[econman]

If the name is their trademark, you shouldn't contact them, and you need to research trademark laws, and the UDRP arbitration process.

[Bubzeebub]

If someone has a trademark and another person has the domain name what happens?

[econman]

It depends on a number of factors, including the intent of the holder of the domain. (If you were to create or purchase the domain cocacola.com with the intent of trying to "sell" this to the owner of that trademark, that would not likely be looked upon with favor, to put it mildly. Research the issues for yourself, or hire a lawyer, but in general, the rulings tend to favor the trademark holder, not the domain holder.

[cabowabo]

Contact your attorney first to ensure you can legally own the name and that you are not violating cyber-squatter regulations. Then get the domain appraised by a reliable service or web advisor.

Good luck to you,

CaboWabo

[rj87uk]

I am in the same boat I just bought a great domain, 2 words with an 'a' in the middle.

I Think its good as a lot of people would like it, the thing its a general name i done a search on Google for the exact term (in quotes) and it came up with a few results (26) but not used as a name just in a sentence.

I should be ok selling it, but what would i do next where can i sell it? I dont want to go to the bother of getting a lawyer or that as then there wouldnt be much point with all the costs and hassel.

Any idea what to do next?

[econman]

There are plenty of sites that help people buy and sell domain names. Most people purporting to provide appraisals or advice have a vested interest or bias of some sort.

To learn more about the market for domains, you might spend some time looking some of the threads in DNForum. com

[edited by: Webwork at 2:10 am (utc) on Jan. 15, 2006]

[submitx]

You can do free trademark search on USPTO website:
[uspto.gov...]

Check there first, if it is not trademarked then you are most probably safe.

If your domain has the company name but it is not trademarked, the other company may still have a right to it, but it will be tougher for them to prove their case. The cybersquating law bascially says that if your main intent of registerting the domain is to resell it to make profit from it, then you are breaking the law, so by you contacting the other company to sell the domain to them, they might be able to use that against you by filing for a domain dispute with ICANN.

You might want to think of other ways on how the other company can discover the domain on their own, so they are the ones contacting you about it. Do put a for sale sign up on your site and wait for the day until they discover it.

[Webwork]

Read some of the WIPO opinions (World Intellectual Property Organization) on the subject. If you do then you'll learn that approaching a company about a domain sale, where that company has rights - registered or otherwise - to a mark you've embedded in a domain you registerd, is often the 'kiss of death' in the arbitrator's analysis set forth in their written opinions.

Be wary that there are some hefty penalties that can apply for cybersquatting.

Read some of the WIPO opinions. You'll get an education.

[snsh]

assuming you're not infringing on a famous mark:
1) put ridiculous content (like monkey porn) on website
2) have an acquaintance speak to salesperson at the company, and casually mention that they tried going to the website and all they got this monkey porn
3) said salesperson will forward monkey porn link to their boss who'll forward it to their boss
4) eventually big boss will buy the domain rather than get confused with monkey porn

[Macro]

Webwork, you are indeed correct. I was able to get back one of my domains because the seller quoted me a $1800 price to let me have my domain back. That was considered a clear proof of "bad faith" and won me the case.