Best way to offer domain to competitor?

[Gold Sales]

Say I own the same domain name as another company that has an ecommerce shop on their tld of the domain name. They own the .co.uk and have been running for longer than I have , but I own the .com version. I have run an information style site in the same niche as them on my .com version for 2 years and the site earns around $1500-$2000 in adsense per year.
If I wanted to offer to sell my .com version of the domain name to them, what would be the best way to approach them without appearing as a cybersquatter and giving them ammunition to try to claim the domain from me for being a cybersquatter or whatever and using their domain name?
As stated the site is making adsense money as an information site and I have stated on the site homepage that it is run by someone other than the other company in question.
Would it be better to offer them the site as an earning business stating the adsense income rather than to highlight the fact it is the .com of their domain name.

 

[labrocca]

I advise you don't approach them and be happy to be making the money you are. You would be better off selling this to someone else. The second you approach the TM holder you are cyber squatting and acting in bad faith. You could lose the domain in a WIPO decision that would only cost them $2k-$3k which I am sure the domain is worth more than that to you.

Keep it...be happy.

 

[Gold Sales]

So do they definately have a claim for cybersquatting?
They have a limited company registered in the uk with a similar name as the domain, but their is no trademark registered and the ltd co. trading name does not automatically give them rights to the trademark.

They do not have any copyright or trademark registered for the domain name.
And I was under the impression that just because they trade under that name that does not mean they own the trademark. And through a search they do not have any trademark registered.

I thought that cybersquatting meant you just sit on a domain with the intention of earning from someone elses trademark. But I am not doing that as the domain has a fully functioning website and I state that the site is not owned by the other company on the homepage to not confuse any customers.

 

[labrocca]

You misunderstand trademark. Trademarks do NOT have to be registered to be valid. You are obviously totally aware of their mark and their rights to it. By offering to sell to them you are committing an act of bad faith.

I thought that cybersquatting meant you just sit on a domain with the intention of earning from someone elses trademark.

Isn't that what you are doing?

 

[Gold Sales]

You misunderstand trademark. Trademarks do NOT have to be registered to be valid. You are obviously totally aware of their mark and their rights to it. By offering to sell to them you are committing an act of bad faith.



Isn't that what you are doing?

No that was not my intention, for the last 2 years I have built an information website with unique content etc. written by me and now have a website with multiple pages and am earning via adsense as a website in its own right.

I have stated on the websites homepage that the site is not affiliated with the other company to avoid any confusion by any customers of theirs. So if they land on my site by accident then they will see that they are on the wrong site and leave.

I want to sell the site now anyway and just thought that they would rather own this domain if it was coming up for sale than someone else and would be interested in bidding if I put it up for sale. Obviously I hoped that they would be willing to pay a slightly higher price for the site as it relates to their domain.

But if I registered the domain in bad faith then I wouldn't have spent 2 years building up a good website with lots of unique content and creating a site that makes good adsense money. At least thats how I interpreted the bad faith cybersquatting rules.

 

[labrocca]

I guess you can do what you want and not heed my advice.

Best way to offer domain to competitor?

The title of this thread and everything you have typed basically says one thing. You are infringing on their trademark and you are well aware of their rights to it.

No that was not my intention, for the last 2 years I have built an information website with unique content etc

That's not a defense you can use...intention has nothing to do with it. Your intention was to register a name similar to theirs and make a similar site in the same niche to make money off their trademark.

I have stated on the websites homepage that the site is not affiliated with the other company to avoid any confusion by any customers of theirs.

Again..not a viable defense. As a matter of fact it hurts you because it means you are aware of their site and their rights to the name.

But if I registered the domain in bad faith then I wouldn't have spent 2 years building up a good website with lots of unique content and creating a site that makes good adsense money. At least thats how I interpreted the bad faith cybersquatting rules.

Partially true but when you contact them to sell the name...that's the bad faith action. That's why I stated contacting them is a very bad idea. Sell to someone else if you must.

You seem defensive in this thread and that's because you are wrong. Plain and simple.

Do what you want. You certainly don't have to listen to me at all. Go ahead and contact them about selling the domain. Pray they are stupider than you.

what would be the best way to approach them without appearing as a cybersquatter and giving them ammunition to try to claim the domain from me for being a cybersquatter or whatever and using their domain name?

Let's make this simple and I will just answer your question.

NONE. There is zero way for you to approach them to sell without appearing to be a cybersquatter.

 

[DNQuest.com]

And if you don't believe Labrocca, I agree with him 100% (knowledgeable NPers know exactly what that means)...


Regardlless of the situation, once you perform an act of bad-faith, that can be used against you. If you are making that type of money, you are better off just keeping it. If you are set on selling it, please bear in mind the legal possibilities associated with your actions.