A leading lifestyle brand for gamers, Razer, has been one of the most popular companies on Crunchbase over the past few years. Having raised a total of $175 million in funding including a $50 million round in May 2017, the company has grown in popularity and now boasts a user base of around 35 million.
Razer managed to acquire the @Razer username for popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. However, the company's domain name was the longer RazerZone.com. Until recently, the shorter Razer.com was owned by a Chinese individual with the domain name being used for many years to host a website containing glassware.
Based on our research, it looks as though Razer may have made an attempt to acquire Razer.com via the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre. According to a report from West.cn (China), Razer unsuccessfully tried to acquire the domain by filing a dispute.
In another report on a Chinese forum, it shows that Razer made a 100,000 CNY offer for the domain (around $15,000) in March 2015, before the owner eventually responded with a price of 1.5 million CNY (around $225,000). According to the report, the asking price eventually dropped to 800,000 CNY ($120,000).
It seems that after hearing this price, Razer filed a failed dispute with the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre. The company seems to have initially filed a URS dispute, which failed due to the fact that the URS dispute system doesn't apply to .COM domain names.
Razer went on to file UDRP, which was approved and subsequently resolved in January 2016. According to the report, the domain name was due to be transferred to Razer with the following comment from the panel (translated into English):
As a side note, it is concerning, that UDRP case number HK-1500822 isn't available to view on the ADNDRC website.
According to Archive.org, Razer.com hosted the glassware company's website up until September 2017, but on September 16th 2017, a new message was displayed along with several images that weren't archived, unfortunately. Roughly translated, the message reads:
As of November 2017, DomainIQ shows the domain name moved into the possession of Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd, and currently forwards to RazerZone.com.
The transfer of Razer.com to Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd coincides with the company's IPO, in which they raised a total of $500 million.
Thanks to @GeorgeK for his help with this article.
Razer managed to acquire the @Razer username for popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. However, the company's domain name was the longer RazerZone.com. Until recently, the shorter Razer.com was owned by a Chinese individual with the domain name being used for many years to host a website containing glassware.
Based on our research, it looks as though Razer may have made an attempt to acquire Razer.com via the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre. According to a report from West.cn (China), Razer unsuccessfully tried to acquire the domain by filing a dispute.
In another report on a Chinese forum, it shows that Razer made a 100,000 CNY offer for the domain (around $15,000) in March 2015, before the owner eventually responded with a price of 1.5 million CNY (around $225,000). According to the report, the asking price eventually dropped to 800,000 CNY ($120,000).
It seems that after hearing this price, Razer filed a failed dispute with the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre. The company seems to have initially filed a URS dispute, which failed due to the fact that the URS dispute system doesn't apply to .COM domain names.
Razer went on to file UDRP, which was approved and subsequently resolved in January 2016. According to the report, the domain name was due to be transferred to Razer with the following comment from the panel (translated into English):
...the Group of Experts ruled that Complainant's complaint was established and disputed domain name <razer.com> was transferred to Complainant Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte Ltd
As a side note, it is concerning, that UDRP case number HK-1500822 isn't available to view on the ADNDRC website.
According to Archive.org, Razer.com hosted the glassware company's website up until September 2017, but on September 16th 2017, a new message was displayed along with several images that weren't archived, unfortunately. Roughly translated, the message reads:
Razer.com, the domain name of this site, is defending its rights through the judicial process. The following is an HK-1500822 Hong Kong arbitration award.
As of November 2017, DomainIQ shows the domain name moved into the possession of Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd, and currently forwards to RazerZone.com.
The transfer of Razer.com to Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd coincides with the company's IPO, in which they raised a total of $500 million.
Thanks to @GeorgeK for his help with this article.
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