domain AustinBMW.com

[Paul Nicks]

formerly forwarded to BMWofAustin according to Alexa.

Estibot gives it a crazy value, just wondering what other perceptions are.

 

[Porte]

Would you be able to use BMW term without getting into TM issues? or legal problems with BMWofAustin.com?

 

[Anthony Sun]

Would you be able to use BMW term without getting into TM issues? or legal problems with BMWofAustin.com?

I guess this becomes an issue on what type of content you put on the site.

Anthony

:gn:

 

[Paul Nicks]

I think it's certainly generic enough to not run into trouble with BMW of Austin, since who knows how many BMW dealerships there are in Austin and the surrounding areas anyway?

I think I may try to contact the other BMW dealerships in and around the city to see if they'd be interested in purchasing.

TM issue notwithstanding, what would be a decent price to market this domain for? Estibot says 15k w/o traffic, I'm a bit leery of those results

 

[del.icio.us]

$0, IMHO.

I'm not a legal person, and here I'm not providing any legal advise.

BMW is a strong TM, and of course they are doing business in the Austin region. Definitely they will win the UDRP under section 4(a).

Section 4(a) of the UDRP requires a complainant to show that the domain name is confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights.

This domain name falls within the section 4(a), and the complainant can easily acquire this name without any problems, imho.

I suggest you to drop this name and get a refund from your registrar if possible.

 

[Anthony Sun]

$0, IMHO.

I'm not a legal person, and here I'm not providing any legal advise.

BMW is a strong TM, and of course they are doing business in the Austin region. Definitely they will win the UDRP under section 4(a).

Section 4(a) of the UDRP requires a complainant to show that the domain name is confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights.

This domain name falls within the section 4(a), and the complainant can easily acquire this name without any problems, imho.

I suggest you to drop this name and get a refund from your registrar if possible.

Before I did some researches, I almost agree with you. Actually, BMW can be an acronymn. Some examples can be found on this site:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=bmw&string=exact

This is not like "Google" - which the name is very unique. So I would say as long as you do not put contents that are related to BMW, the German auto manufacturer, you should be Ok. I too, am not a lawyer, so this is just my 2-cents, take it or not.

Anthony

:gn:

 

[del.icio.us]

Before I did some researches, I almost agree with you. Actually, BMW can be an acronymn. Some examples can be found on this site:

http://www.acronymfinder.com/af-query.asp?Acronym=bmw&string=exact

This is not like "Google" - which the name is very unique. So I would say as long as you do not put contents that are related to BMW, the German auto manufacturer, you should be Ok. I too, am not a lawyer, so this is just my 2-cents, take it or not.

Anthony

:gn:

Well,
If BMW alone is the word then the situation will be entirely different but the name is AustinBMW.com. Punchie posted that the name was previously used as a forwarder to BMWofAustin.com. so it makes the name very easy to win the UDRP, again imho.

 

[Anthony Sun]

Well,
If BMW alone is the word then the situation will be entirely different but the name is AustinBMW.com. Punchie posted that the name was previously used as a forwarder to BMWofAustin.com. so it makes the name very easy to win the UDRP, again imho.

You got a point. Here is the thing, most people will just give in when a lawyer contacts them for a potential TM issue because the name is not worth fighting for. These companies have in house law staffs that got paid full-time anyway. They have nothing to lose when they file a law sue against you. But as for little guys like us, it would cost us arms and legs to defend our domains.

Bottom line is, avoid registering this type of domains.

Anthony

:gn:

 

[Devil_Dog]

Used to own bmwdrivers.com.

Check out who owns it now:

http://whois.domaintools.com/bmwdrivers.com

 

[Anthony Sun]

Used to own bmwdrivers.com.

Check out who owns it now:

http://whois.domaintools.com/bmwdrivers.com

Wow, so was the transfer voluntary?

Anthony

:gn:

 

[Devil_Dog]

Wow, so was the transfer voluntary?

Anthony

:gn:

You bet. Voluntary and expeditiously.

 

[Anthony Sun]

What is great! Do you mind share with us how much did you get from them?

Anthony

:gn:

 

[masterYES]

try to sell BMW for small ammount
TM - this is problem

 

[Devil_Dog]

What is great! Do you mind share with us how much did you get from them?

Anthony

:gn:

No no no, I don't think you understood me. I owned it, it got good traffic. I was deployed overseas, my wife sent me an email saying some lawyer from Germany called and wanted the domain bmwdrivers.com transferred to them or they would take it to udrp.

I transferred it to them and they cancelled the udrp.

 

[Anthony Sun]

No no no, I don't think you understood me. I owned it, it got good traffic. I was deployed overseas, my wife sent me an email saying some lawyer from Germany called and wanted the domain bmwdrivers.com transferred to them or they would take it to udrp.

I transferred it to them and they cancelled the udrp.

I see. So you was forced to give up the domains. Something similiar happened to me on PlayboyCentre.com and two other similar ones. I have to cancel them after their lawyer contacted me by email.

(I also heard a lot of similiar stories like this.)

But your BWMDrivers.com was too obvious. If you only have BWMD.com and you call your site Big World Machine Depot, then I do not think they can do anything about it.

Anthony

:gn:

 

[del.icio.us]

If you only have BWMD.com and you call your site Big World Machine Depot, then I do not think they can do anything about it.

Anthony

:gn:

Yep, but this is not the case in AustinWMV.com

 

[Anthony Sun]

Punchie,

Go put a title: Bad Merry Women of Austin - An Austin Dating Site - Coming Soon!on a site for the domain and you should be saved. I think.

(You have to do this before anyone come approach you with the TM issue. Just my 2 cents. )

Anthony

:gn: