legal Rick Schwartz Files UDRP To Protect His “Domain King” Mark

Arpit131 · Mar 30, 2016

Rick Schwartz who has been known in the domain community as the “Domain King” has filed an administrative action to gain control of the domain name DomainKing.ng.

.Ng is the country code (ccTLD) for Nigeria.

Rick not only is commonly known as the Domain King inside the domain community, but has a federally registered trademark on the term “Domain King” in the United States since 2003 (which was renewed in 2013) as well as a European trademark.

DomainKing.ng is going to a full on domain name registrar site which appears to be owned by a company out of Jalandhar, India.

“I will be going after any site which is profiting off my good name and my protected trademark.”

Rick said he may file lawsuits for damages, not just UDRP’s, against companies that are using “Domain King” to profit off his trademark and good name.

Source

UPDATE: Domainking.ng Moved To A New Registrar After Rick Schwartz Announced UDRP

ramkumaritrvs · Mar 30, 2016

lol...

I agree he has TM on that but Domain King isn't a common word !!?

Edit: just seen the .ng website and they added in footer,

"DomainKing™ is a trademark of Hannu Internet Corp. © 2014."

Edit 2:

Also they own co.in, .biz etc.,

Edit 3:

.ng is scam website, JMO.

DOMAIN ILLUMINATI · Mar 30, 2016

domainki.ng still available, although I do not recommend to register it

pokainc · Mar 30, 2016

it says trademarked in the US and a European Trademark.. and the case is to go after the extension which is associated to neither of those 2 places.. this would be a very interesting case..

I highly doubt the company in India who registered with the .ng extension did it to "profit" from the good reputation Rick Schwartz, but who knows.

If owning a trademark in the US & Europe enables to cover all continents, then why even bother getting a global trademark..

Anybody an International Law expert for online issues?

Mr. Deleted · Mar 30, 2016

kingof.top said:
domainki.ng still available, although I do not recommend to register it

I was thinking of this one when I saw .ng, kinda surprised he does not own it already.

Mr. Deleted · Mar 30, 2016

pokainc said:
... the good reputation (of) Rick Schwartz...

Not sure where that rep is, other than some news articles and a blog. I admire him, but still not sure he can command a huge following in India.

DOMAIN ILLUMINATI · Mar 30, 2016

Mr. Deleted said:
I was thinking of this one when I saw .ng, kinda surprised he does not own it already.

Maybe because it's not really an aesthetic domain hack ('domainki') and also it costs about $200 per year - but in case of Mr. Schwartz we can assume that this (financial) point rather isn't the reason

Nevertheless I think it will take not long time and this domain will be registered...

Mr. Deleted · Mar 30, 2016

He has millions, so 200/year is pocket change. he does have the .com.

namezest · Mar 30, 2016

he doesn't have a registered trademark in Nigeria I say he loses this one.

domainking9999 · Mar 31, 2016

LOL 1st victim: ME!

djum · Mar 31, 2016

I doubt UDRP will be enough to get domain back, especially if Indian company was prepared and registered trademark for Domainki in Nigeria.

Some years ago Google was trying to take away google.ua from someone. They had to go to the court and spend few years and few cases (they lost couple) because that smart individual registered company and trademark with name "GO OGLE" and by Ukranian laws thats legit reasons to have domain. But with help of few bribes Google managed to get domain. We'll see what happens here.

iAchilles · Mar 31, 2016

Rick sells domains in the aftermarket, these guys appear to be a registrar, different sub-niches so I'll be surprised if he wins, granted I'm not an authority on this subject.

brindle123 · Mar 31, 2016

How dare someone step on the kings toes. Doesn't he have something better to do like spend all his money and enjoy life.

Seems like a tool.

Kingslayer · Mar 31, 2016

Another swell head who's sold a few domains thinking they are 'the king'.

You'd think he'd be embarrassed trademarking something like that, bet people who are dealing with the case are thinking 'what a egotistical *swear word*'.

domainnamesdaily · Mar 31, 2016

I'm not sure why Rick would spend the time or money to go after this name. If he doesn't own the international trademark, I think he loses if the company tries to defend the name.

decades80 · Mar 31, 2016

Its not about the name, but the fact when you write "domain king" phrase in Google, here in Germany domainking.ng is ranking 1st spot. I believe its driving traffic from some searches of domain king TM.

indam · Mar 31, 2016

NameZest said:
he doesn't have a registered trademark in Nigeria I say he loses this one.

I would like to see this in a Court in Nigeria!

With some prejudice, it will be kind of an Auction! "OK NOW, the one who pays mire, deserves to be the DOMAIN KING!"

imc · Mar 31, 2016

TM's get benefit when it is used in actual consistent commerce. There are some odd UDRP decisions which leaves you speechless.

daj · Mar 31, 2016

His inflated ego and the fact that he's good friends with Adam Dicker is bothersome.

Mr. Deleted · Mar 31, 2016

decades80 said:
Its not about the name, but the fact when you write "domain king" phrase in Google, here in Germany domainking.ng is ranking 1st spot. I believe its driving traffic from some searches of domain king TM.

Here is what I see: http://i.prntscr.com/7b03e1aa7a0d49549d99ce022d25bcfa.png

Mr. Deleted · Mar 31, 2016

http://www.dnjournal.com/columns/cover020204.htm

DOMAIN ILLUMINATI · Mar 31, 2016

Mr. Deleted said:
Here is what I see: http://i.prntscr.com/7b03e1aa7a0d49549d99ce022d25bcfa.png

Same search results in Austria.

daj · Mar 31, 2016

Mr. Deleted said:
Here is what I see: http://i.prntscr.com/7b03e1aa7a0d49549d99ce022d25bcfa.png

Exactly. He's always used RicksBlog.com. DomainKing.com has been url forwarded/masked to RicksBlog.com since 2007 or perhaps earlier.

He once used it in 1999-2001 for that: https://web.archive.org/web/20010402032802/http://www.domainking.com/
Than in 2002 for that: https://web.archive.org/web/20020324182432/http://domainking.com/
Than it was forewarded to various urls: erealestate.com & netfinders.com

But he's never used it for an official business. It's never been his main site. He has no leg to stand on IMO.

-EM- · Mar 31, 2016

hallofshame.com?

championshipforum · Mar 31, 2016

It looks like this whole 'Domain King' ego has gone to his head.

legal Rick Schwartz Files UDRP To Protect His “Domain King” Mark

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