Domain Legal Help?

[Tropica]

Hi

My company originally registered the co.uk variation of our name, since then our company has received a large amount of press, in national as well as local newspapers, as well as some large news websites.

We then thought we should register the other varations of our domain, we got the .net,.info etc... but someone registered the .com

I contacted him and he said he wants $xxx for the domain and is planning to setup a web design company (same name as my company )

Im convinced he has just registered it to make a quick buck.

What can I do from now? He is ignoring my emails, is it worth a trip to my lawyers? Or is there a easier way?

Thanks all

 

[MaguirePhD]

Tropicana:

If somethig in business can be solved with a check it is not a problem, it is a business solution.

Now what you may want to do is send him, via e-mail, so he can get it in PayPal, 60% of what he is asking. If he is asking, $500, send $300.

With this e-mail:

Sir:

Attached is $300 that will serve as compensation for your relinquishing ownership of domain: __________ that is actually the name and identity of our company, started back in _________.

Thank You

______________________


Now, if he accepts the payment, you for one will feel better because while he held you up for some money, you have some satisfaction as to the amount you got held up for.

If he takes your money and does not give you the domian, he has committed fraud ,as the e-mail clearly spells out what the payment is for.

The idea is simple as you can see.

When he opens that e-mail, that is cash in hansd...a little difficult to refuse.

If he does refuse, then he has set down the battle lines and you found that out without an attorney fee.

Doc

 

[evertonian7uk]

Tropicana:

If somethig in business can be solved with a check it is not a problem, it is a business solution.

Now what you may want to do is send him, via e-mail, so he can get it in PayPal, 60% of what he is asking. If he is asking, $500, send $300.

With this e-mail:

Sir:

Attached is $300 that will serve as compensation for your relinquishing ownership of domain: __________ that is actually the name and identity of our company, started back in _________.

Thank You

______________________


Now, if he accepts the payment, you for one will feel better because while he held you up for some money, you have some satisfaction as to the amount you got held up for.

If he takes your money and does not give you the domian, he has committed fraud ,as the e-mail clearly spells out what the payment is for.

The idea is simple as you can see.

When he opens that e-mail, that is cash in hansd...a little difficult to refuse.

If he does refuse, then he has set down the battle lines and you found that out without an attorney fee.

Doc

yeah, dont do this, this is asking for trouble, you lose the cash and still dont get the domain, just because he accepts payment doesnt mean he has to transfer the domain, after all he didnt sign the letter, nor did any legal party, thats asking for trouble lol.

 

[jberryhill]

The money isn't the issue

So, let me get this straight.

You run a business which is not in business to make money. Instead, you started a business to demonstrate your committment to various principles of yours.

That's a fascinating type of business.

You may have a slam-dunk situation, maybe not. But you really need to sit down and think about whether paying some other person thousands of dollars to obtain what you can have for hundreds of dollars is any way to run a business.

Lawyers love guys like you.

 

[MaguirePhD]

evertonian7uk:

You missed the point. The offer is made in the public domainwhere the intent is clearly recognized.

If he takes the money the matter is over.

If he takes the money and does not disgorge the domain he has committed fraud and now the person seeking the rightful domain kows excatly where the matter stands and what avenues to proceed.

Doc.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

The money isn't the issue as such, I just have a low threshold to con artists and chancers, I suppose I feel by paying him for it, I will just encouraged him and somehow convinced him what he is doing is right.

If you want to make a point on principle, pay him the asking amount which is fairly reasonable, then sue him after you have it if money isn't the issue. You'll have the domain quicker, with less risk, and and lower cost. You'll also have better proof of bad faith and actual damages in the form of the sale.

If you start a legal fight first instead of paying, you take the chance of losing and he has evidence of winning the first case and never releasing the domain to you, or flipping to to someone else so you can start all over again.

You can then spend whatever you are willing to pay for your principles afterwards, as well as seek what you originally paid as damages if you really think you can win and want to spend money to teach him a lesson.

Remember the old saying that "Possession is 9/10ths of the law".

Remember the Golden Rule...He who owns the gold, makes the rules.

 

[evertonian7uk]

If he takes the money and does not disgorge the domain he has committed fraud and now the person seeking the rightful domain kows excatly where the matter stands and what avenues to proceed.

Which costs him more money when he doesnt transfer, with legal fee's and all the BS, this is not the way i would do it at all, wayyyyyyy to many scammers out there to try this.

 

[Kate]

...
Im convinced he has just registered it to make a quick buck.

Hi,

I want to play the devil's advocate for a while
How can you be sure that the name was registered to make a quick buck on your .co.uk ?
First off we do not know the name in question. It may be pretty generic or obviously suitable for their purpose, so the fact the .com was registered by another party might just be coincidence. They *might* have noticed other extensions were taken (at least .co.uk) while the .com was available. That still doesn't mean you were a target.
Also, you say you are involved in education and the other party wants to use the domain name for webdesign business. Not exactly the same "industry".

Finally there is the issue of TM rights - or the lack thereof.
I'm not taking sides here - again I don't know the name, you may be right but I also want to stress that sometimes domain holders are overreaching, and they think they have a monopoly to the other extensions, in particular when they missed the .com.

Each case is different and we should always be cautious before pointing out fingers at anybody. I will also add that I often register available .com where other extensions (.net/.org) are taken. If there are no TM issues why not ?
Just a thought.

 

[jberryhill]

Which costs him more money when he doesnt transfer, with legal fee's and all the BS, this is not the way i would do it at all, wayyyyyyy to many scammers out there to try this.

Oh, good golly, then use an escrow service.

In the time spent huffing and puffing here, you could have written and filed a UDRP complaint and been done with it.

 

[DnPresident]

Hope all gets clear for you and I can't resist saying how interesting it is for me to see the title of this thread "Domain Legal Help" Since I've got "DomainLegalHelp,com" Kinda neat.

Good Luck