I've got somebody wanting to buy a domain name (that I don't want to sell) or threatening to take me to a dispute tribunal. Just trying to work out how much I should charge if I am forced to sell.
Thanks
Depending on the situatiohn you may be chased for costs too.
Fuzzy
I really don't want to sell the domain but I think I may lose it if it goes to dispute.
Their domain is like "blue-widgets-for-sale" and mine is like "bluewidgetsforsale", they registered their's 2 months before mine.
Anybody got any experience with things like this?
Cheers
Its all down to the specifics of the arguements though.
Shak
Their domain is like "blue-widgets-for-sale" and mine is like "bluewidgetsforsale", they registered their's 2 months before mine.
try to do some search at Google and you will see tons of domains that differ just by single "-".
Unless you think it is copyright issue or something else that you have not told, then I don't think they can do anything to get your domain. Many people buy domains with "-" to do good in search engines and many buy domains without "-" for people to type it in.
Again in your case, unless there is some copyright/trademark issue, I don't see how can they get your domain name. Just becuase they bought the domain couple months back before you, that does not mean they have copyright for all other domains with/without "-".
what country are you in?
what country are they in?
do they have their domain registered as a trademark?
do you have yours registered as a trademark?
are you trading legitimately as a genuine business?
are they?
if so, who was trading first?
have you parked your domain for later use or advertised it for sale at any time?
to find out if they have registered the name as a trademark search on google for "country trademark search" to find the patent / trademark site for your country. you'll find lots of info there about trademark ownership etc and who has rights to "names". domain names are treated more or less the same in law as any other name that can be trademarked (ie, business name etc).
this should give you a clue or 2 about whether they have any rights to the name. once you know a little bit more, go see a lawyer.
Unless they have a trademark on the term at issue - or it is a persons name (and even then - not always) - they will not win in arbitration.
Unless you are doing something you really shouldn't be - there is no way you will lose money - you might lose a domain if it is trademarked, but if you did this innocently or have a good reason for what you did - you have little to worry about.
99% of the time - people don't file suit - or go to arbitration.
ie, I've got myotherdomain.co.uk so now he's registered my-other-domain.co.uk
What a w*nker!
Did you know about their site beforehand?
Do you have sufficiently unique content?
I would assume that if someone could prove that you visited their site frequently for a period of time prior to your domain name registration, then they would have a strong case for claiming an abusive registration. More so if your content was similar to theirs, and/or other similarities could be shown on your site.
If I went away and registered www.webmaster-world.com and set up a discussion forum for Web Marketing professionals, then the domain would be ripped from me quicker than I could make my first post. This is a slightly different case as WW is an established brand, but you get my point.
You take an idea from somewhere - that's just business.
You take the name as well and you're shaky ground.
IMHO, anyway, what does everyone else think?
Another related question to: If a complainant pursues the complaint and suceeds, would the defendant be liable (or pursuable) for expenses?
Marketing Guy :)
ps, BTW I'm not suggesting for a minute that you did set out to copy anyone - but depending on the facts of the case, you should perhaps consider how your own actions could be percieved by an independent source (ie an abritor).
Thanks for the reply.
To answer your questions,
1: They didn't have a site beforehand - or even a holding page - but yes, I did know that they had registered the domain.
2: we both sell "blue widgets" so the content of both sites are going to be similar. Although, we had been selling our widgets for a couple of years on our main site.
My argument is that the domain name is generic and aptly describes what we do. The words are not copyrighted or trademarked although they have registered their company name as something like "Amazing Blue Widgets For Sale".
We are not trying to pass ourselves off as these people, and there is no attempt at replicating their site or logo. In fact, the page simply says who we are, what we sell and links you to our main site. I don't know if this will be looked on as a good thing or bad.
On the point of paying expenses if you lose arbitration, I'm hoping I never find out ;)
Cheers
DO NOT MAKE AN OFFER TELLING THEM YOU WANT X. This can look very bad if it goes to dispute.
I wouldn't worry about that. What can look bad is if you approach a trademark holder out of the blue and offer to sell a domain that might be infringing -- that might be taken as evidence of a "bad faith" registration; that is, that you had registered with that intent.
But if they've come to you and asked for it and threatened filing a dispute, there's nothing wrong with making a settlement offer.
You should be OK in this case - plus the fact that you have been in the business for years will help too.
However...
>We are not trying to pass ourselves off as these people, and there is no attempt at replicating their site or logo. In fact, the page simply says who we are, what we sell and links you to our main site. I don't know if this will be looked on as a good thing or bad.
Just having a single page and not much content may reflect badly on you - with a site you can argue its an extension of your exisiting business - a single page may look like no more than a placeholder.
Personally I would knock together a decent site for the domain or least draw up plans to do so. That way you can argue a purpose for the domain rather than just using the name.
Marketing Guy
We had a entire new site planned for the domain but it kept getting pushed back by other projects. I might dust off the photoshop files just in case.
>>JakeBlue
Good luck with your dispute - unless your the guy who's trying to take my domain ;)
Peter
<edit>Gibberish</edit>
But alas, no it doesn't look like I have a chance in heck to get the domain... sigh...
Will just go to snap names and say a little prayer to the gods of expiring domains
We have accepted an [unsolicitated] offer for the domain name in question.
Personally I would have preferred to keep it and take our chances but the final decision was out of my hands.
Thanks to everyone for their input and I'll start a new thread for my next question "How do I transfer the thing?"
Cheers
Pete
Scott
