Acquiring a .de domain owned by an unidentified third-party

[Grunners]

I recently ran an audit of a company's web domains in EMEA, providing a list of those they owned, those that were available, and those that were registered by unknown and unrelated third-parties.

One that has been registered by someone else is their companyname.de (German).

Obviously, due to German privacy laws, I can't see who this is through a WhoIs search, and domain acquisition brokers such as GoDaddy have told me they can't either. The URL doesn't redirect to a holding page (just loads blank).

Two questions:

1) Is there a way to find out who this is (perhaps through an anonymous process involving a middle-man), and contact them regarding a sale/handover?
2) I believe there is a legal process in Germany whereby the trademark holder can enforce handover of the domain. How does one go about starting this, and is it preferable to the above (if that is possible)?

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any advice.

 

[Kate]

Get in touch with Denic first. You may also ask for the domain to be placed in dispute status if there is evidence of TM abuse.
See: https://www.denic.de/en/faqs/faqs-for-parties-interested-in-registered-domains/
But Denic won't get involved with disputes - you may have to go to court if the current holder doesn't react.

PS: perhaps the page doesn't load for you due to some browser plugin (ad blocker etc).

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

I recently ran an audit of a company's web domains in EMEA, providing a list of those they owned, those that were available, and those that were registered by unknown and unrelated third-parties.

One that has been registered by someone else is their companyname.de (German).

Obviously, due to German privacy laws, I can't see who this is through a WhoIs search, and domain acquisition brokers such as GoDaddy have told me they can't either. The URL doesn't redirect to a holding page (just loads blank).

Two questions:

1) Is there a way to find out who this is (perhaps through an anonymous process involving a middle-man), and contact them regarding a sale/handover?
2) I believe there is a legal process in Germany whereby the trademark holder can enforce handover of the domain. How does one go about starting this, and is it preferable to the above (if that is possible)?

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can offer any advice.

if you need help i can translate. i am german

 

[amaz_bab]

i may can help too, i speak german as well.

 

[Grunners]

Thanks Kate, DENIC were able to provide the information I needed!