Being Threanted by big company

[jundy314]

Hey Guys,

I run a marketing firm in Detroit and am currently running a social media campaign for a client who is a franchisee for a big company we are all filmior with. A vital part of the campaign I'm running was to create a landing page to direct traffic too. The domain I bought for the landing page was. XXXXXGIVEAWAY.com The blank being the companies name.
(example GoogleGiveaway.com) the Campaign was going really good until my client received a letter from the franchise that he must take down the landing page and transfer the domain to them or legal would get involved. Now I'm not so much concerned about taking down the landing page but do I really have to give up the domain? Yes it does have a trade marked name in it but can they do that?


Please let me know thanks.

 

[alcy]

i once was warned by cyber laywer working for some financial company called by a generic noun in plural (example: AREAS).. and for which I had a 2 word domain.. one of which words was this generic noun in plural. so example... NiceAreas.com... where Areas was the financial company name.

they said they'll take legal action if I use this domain to associate with what they do.. so... finances.. banking etc.. he said it'd be okay otherwise. and did not ask me to give it up. they said they'll keep monitoring my usage.

seems like your situation may be different.. whereby the company name is not a generic dictionary word.. or is it? as far as I know, no one can really trademark a generic name like Areas or others.. and then call you violating it if you own a domain that has 2 words.. including that generic word.

 

[jundy314]

I thought this was a troll web lawyer but I got
Confirmation from my client this is really from the franchise requesting the domain to be transferred to them. The word in my domain is indeed the companies name followed by "Giveaway" So it's not a generic word or name to answer your question.

i once was warned by cyber laywer working for some financial company called by a generic noun in plural (example: AREAS).. and for which I had a 2 word domain.. one of which words was this generic noun in plural. so example... NiceAreas.com... where Areas was the financial company name.

they said they'll take legal action if I use this domain to associate with what they do.. so... finances.. banking etc.. he said it'd be okay otherwise. and did not ask me to give it up. they said they'll keep monitoring my usage.

seems like your situation may be different.. whereby the company name is not a generic dictionary word.. or is it? as far as I know, no one can really trademark a generic name like Areas or others.. and then call you violating it if you own a domain that has 2 words.. including that generic word.

 

[m-i-k-e]

Use of domain names should be covered in the franchise agreement. I'd read what it says in there, but if it's the franchisor going after the franchisee, I'd guess that the franchisor knows how the agreement is laid out.

 

[todaygold]

I'm not a lawyer, but if this guy is just franchising and the corporate franchise tells him to knock it off, I would say he should listen. He probably has a lengthy contract that covers how he can use the franchise name and I would wager to guess, this type of use is not permitted. You definitely don't want to piss off the corporate franchise that you have a long-term contract with.

 

[alcy]

I thought this was a troll web lawyer but I got
Confirmation from my client this is really from the franchise requesting the domain to be transferred to them. The word in my domain is indeed the companies name followed by "Giveaway" So it's not a generic word or name to answer your question.

I see well. in my domain it was also the exact company name.. except it also happened to be generic dictionary plural noun.

so I guess we have different things.. me: AREAS.. and you GOOGLE like name.

that can make all difference.

hmmm.. when I talked about my cyber lawyer, I highly doubt he was trolling around. it was a signed letter from some reputable firm which I googled and existed. I do not see why someone would troll around like this, unless they wanted your domain for free. and clearly, this guy did not. cheers.

 

[hxp]

Listen to them.

In most franchises, the franchisee is just there to operate the business and take a cut. Marketing, branding, sales, promotions, etc. is handled by the franchisor. If you start doing your own thing, it gets in their way. You could potentially have a negative effect on the franchise as a whole. I'm not sure why your client would even try something like this....

As for giving up the domain, you've already ran a campaign using their branding. So, if they really want it, you have no real chance of keeping it. You can ask for your out of pocket expenses, but wether they decide to pay or not, you'd be wise to just give it up.

 

[TestCase]

Disclaimer - I am NOT attorney and nothing I say should be considered legal advice.

You might want to have your client contact his franchise representative(s) ASAP (i.e. NOW!) to see what they have to say. The attorney that has contacted you might not understand the relationship your client has with the company. In the mean time I would take down the site.

 

[korganian]

I would bet that they cover use of their trademark in the franchise agreement that your client has signed with them. It should be spelled out clearly for your client to read.

 

[jundy314]

my client didn't wanna be on a shit list with his franchisor since hes looking to expand his stores in in the near future. so i just transferred over the domain to the company and now il just gohead and say who they were. i bought Verizongiveaway.com and Verizon was the bully in this case. i thought it was pretty extreme to go over my landing page that just directed people to his stores since he was giving away free bluetooth speakers and or a case. i kinda wanna send them a bill for $8 that it cost me to register the domain in the first place lol

 

[S-B]

I once sent a bill to the state police for the street value of the product they confiscated. Didn't work.

 

[todaygold]

Verizon was the bully in this case.

Seriously? So they defended their trademark, likely defended their contract terms with the franchisee and all they asked for was you to turn over the domain rather than suing for a ton of money...and you call them the bully? If anything, they were nice and let you off easy.

 

[jundy314]

I once sent a bill to the state police for the street value of the product they confiscated. Didn't work.

lol those guys are notorious for taking your money not giving you money!! Reminds me of that dude that pay a traffic ticket with all pennies! CLASSIC

 

[jundy314]

Seriously? So they defended their trademark, likely defended their contract terms with the franchisee and all they asked for was you to turn over the domain rather than suing for a ton of money...and you call them the bully? If anything, they were nice and let you off easy.

They were very nice actually, i was just using the word bully in a loose manner. the whole ordeal started and ended faster then this thread has been alive.

 

[todaygold]

They were very nice actually, i was just using the word bully in a loose manner. the whole ordeal started and ended faster then this thread has been alive.

If I were you, I would hope they see it that way if they come across this thread. Otherwise they could say you are defaming their character and hurting their reputation.

 

[DomainVP]

They do have a case.

The overall 'use' can be argued, but I think it's hardly worth the effort. What you may think is a valuable domain is likely not.

In the end I think you should consider preserving the your clients relationship instead of the domain.

 

[jundy314]

The overall 'use' can be argued, but I think it's hardly worth the effort. What you may think is a valuable domain is likely not.

In the end I think you should consider preserving the your clients relationship instead of the domain.[/QUOTE]
and this is what i did, domain was transferred with no hesitation on my end.

 

[baseballworld]

Thought a franchise had rights to use domains.

 

[hookbox]

When something like this occurs you need to put the client and his business first above all us. He would not own the franchise if it was not for the franchise creator which is obviously the company. It is a no-brainer to do whatever they say to do. I'm very surprised the franchisee (your client) hasn't told you to do whatever they say to do.

 

[hxp]

my client didn't wanna be on a sh*t list with his franchisor since hes looking to expand his stores in in the near future. so i just transferred over the domain to the company and now il just gohead and say who they were. i bought Verizongiveaway.com and Verizon was the bully in this case. i thought it was pretty extreme to go over my landing page that just directed people to his stores since he was giving away free bluetooth speakers and or a case. i kinda wanna send them a bill for $8 that it cost me to register the domain in the first place lol

Do NOT send them that $8 bill. Considering it's Verizon, I'd say you're lucky you didn't get fined. Charge your client only.

&I'm still confused as to why either of you thought this was a good idea.... You could've opted for "SpeakerGiveaway", "FreeSpeakers", or something else that's generic. When you use "VerizonGiveaway", it can easily be misconstrued. Imagine if this went too far, and suddenly the entire population is asking for free speakers at their local Verizon store. Verizon would have had to accommodate the promotion, and then, they'd most likely pass the bill on to you/your client.