Has this ever happened to you

[obocar]

I received a letter from a nearby business threatening me to take off my city domain website, ie. cityprofession.info. He stated that if I don't take off my website, he'll report me to the board.

The thing is he registered his fictitious name as city profession.

Ex: Los Angeles Mechanics is his fictitious name. The domain I use is LosAngelesMechanics.info. He's a has a mechanic shop and I also have a mechanic shop in the same city. For my business name, I use my real name mechanic as my business name. So, do I have the right to use the domain?

Anyone geo domain owner here had gone through similar experience? If you have, I would like to share your experience.

If you pm me, I'll give you the exact domain name, and the whole story of behind it.

 

[jideofor]

Why are you scared? Tell him to f*ck off. You have not committed any crime.

If he dares you, prove to him you know your right as MAN!

 

[Freya45]

This is too much, So surprised to hear this from you, Hope you get great now.

 

[accent]

I have no idea about a "board" he could take you to. Like if you were a lawyer he wants to take you before the legal bar committee? That is specific to your local situation and nobody here will know much about it.

On the domain side he can bring a UDRP action to take your domain or he could sue for (common law I assume) trademark infringement. A UDRP costs him $1500, minimum. If you bought your domain before he first used his fictitious name you should win easily. If not, you can claim it is a generic name that describes your business. Still a good chance you will win. If he wins he gets the domain, only.

A trademark law suit would cost him a lot more and he would not have a good case unless he could show you were targeting him in an attempt to confuse his customers. If he wins he gets money, to repay the money he claimed to have lost to you.

Do not change your website except as part of a a clearly negotiated agreement with him. Unilateral changes are sometimes considered an admission of wrongdoing. But generally, pushing this issue in the domain arena would probably not be worth it for him.