question Lawsuit threatened, seeking advice

Some good advice, some bad. I'm not an attorney, so will give free advice.

Depending upon the extension (top-level domain or TLD) used, you need to read the Registry's Terms and Conditions for that TLD (the TLD T's & "C's are not all the same).

If that legal document doesn't preclude your usage, go see a good IP attorney. John Berryhill has a good rep, but is on the conservative side with his advice. If this is a matter of free expression, you may want to consult with the civil liberties group in your country.

I believe you have good intentions and are not acting in bad faith. You are simply gathering data, haven't mentioned the company itself and are interested in protesting in a lawful manner. That's all good. Best of luck.

Titus Vorenus said:

I'm hoping for some feedback. I heard a newly forming large business was coming into my area. I bought the exact domain name of the business and put up an informational protest site. I have NEVER done ads or solicited for offers. I genuinely hate this business, but they are large and are threatening to sue me if I don't turn the domain over to them.

From my research it seems that they don't have a case as I have never used the domain commercially, and I've never sold a domain before so I don't have a history of squatting. I believe if I fight it I'd win. I'm wondering if anyone here has had a similar experience and if they could share the process and cost.

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You may have let your emotions related to this company turn you into a cybersquatter. Is the social justice nature of your intent truly worth the label cybersquatter and the potential tens of thousands in legal fees? Only you can decide.

so you just hand regged the exact business name?? in .com??

sounds like youre dealing with some inept business people honestly. I say stand your ground and do what you believe in. You can always try to rep yourself in court. If they cant bother to reg their own business name, then how able are they to do anything to you?

tl;dr

Exact business name dot com = no-go.
Exact business name sucks dot com = fair play

One of their mistakes is that they register a trademark/brand without buying their domain name (.com) first. Of course you should be able to maintain Your domain name for Your needs/benefits. IMO

First decide how much that domain is worth to you and to them. If you are willing to sell for a low cost, put a mid-high 3 figure price on it and let them see it. So before filing udrp they may consider purchasing.

If they didn't file udrp yet, maybe sell it to your friend who would then create a legitimate site with it very quickly. Your current use of it may also be legitimate, but if you say bad things about them, even if true, this would be considered as bad faith. If you had a ....sucks site you would have a higher chance of winning. Since you have exact business name, if they have tm by default they win.

Thanks everyone for the comments, I've been busy so I didn't have a chance to respond until now.

Bob Hawkes said:

Even if the odds are that you would win (I am not saying that - no idea), it might still not be worth the headache and worry that a dispute would entail. Am I correct that you don't have a lot of money invested in the name, it is more the principle?

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Bob, I hesitate to get further into the details in a public forum. I have nothing invested in it outside of registration costs. I am not associated with the business and my actions are out of principle. There is a large community opposition but they don't have the funding or skills that the hired guns promoting the business do.


Thanks!

BaileyUK said:

Most understandable/acceptable protest registrations tend to use a secondary word and NOT the company name alone (say for example the name of the town) - and the early acceptance was generally to those registering and using the .ORG. extension. I believe these values are still applicable

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But aren't most protest registrations done with an extra word such as "sucks" because the original .com domain isn't available?

Every domainer should have Umbrella insurance so that they can have a lawyer to respond
to such threats and give you advice. And if necessary, your lawyers should ask for discovery
so that they can look for email evidence that this lawsuit was brought to stop your criticism of
their company's practices. No company wants their internal emails to be made public.
Asking for discovery has put a quick stop to many lawsuits.

As and example of this:

A poor pensioner, barely getting by on his union pension, complained on his web site
that California Senator Dianne Feinstein's husband was getting paid by this union many millions
of dollars due to sweetheart deals, while he was starving. Feinstein's lawyer sued
the poor pensioner. But the pensioner had liability insurance, and when the insurance
lawyers filed for discovery, the Feinsteins dropped the lawsuit.