legal He Nearly Lost Everything To Win

[TauseefKhan]

Nissan the car company never really cared who Uzi Nissan was. Then it decided he had something it wanted very much—the website www.nissan.com, which he created for his small retail computer business in 1994—and it sued him for $10 million. When the two Nissans went to war, Uzi Nissan prevailed in the end but lost almost everything along the way. more here

 

[MSN-Domains]

So glad the small guy won.

He didn't win. Massive negative loss

“I would have let it go first day if I knew what I would have to go through, and what it would do to me and my family,” Uzi told Jalopnik. “I was driven 99.9 percent out of business.”

He lost time, His health deteriorated, stress increased 1000 fold, The business he built is dead in the water and all he has now is a domain and people patting him on the back saying wow you beat a big conglomerate.

16 years of life down the pan

To classify that as victory is nothing short of absurd.

 

[tonyk2000]

Real winners are Nissan Lawyers. They were paid for each minute of their time, regardless of an outcome. Even though in this particular case the company management was likely aware of the case and somehow approved what their lawyers did, in many cases the tm holders do outsource everything to such an extend that the company itself does not know what their lawyers are sending to each particular "similar domain name" owner (C&D, Udrp, etc...). Unfortunately... And this lawyers business is such a big that even smaller law firms are now opening their own registrars to make the "corporate domain management" things easier, so Markmonitor and CSC Corporate Domains are not alone in this lawyer-bots field

 

[lock]

So glad the small guy won.

 

[Alessandro Couteau]

Fucking corporations ~ the greedy mentality of these founders is appalling ... If they just picked up the phone and had called the guy and offered him $1M he probably would have sold it ... But they had to fucking sue him for 10 times that and watch this guy go through hell to get his own name ... Insane

 

[wwwweb]

Well Nissan ruined any goodwill when they sold Z.com for millions, profiting from the domain. Given this is this guys last name, he should have the right to sell for millions also.

I have actually talked to this guy, he is a very nice, and humble guy.

 

[DomainVP]

Is this a feel good story?

I feel bad for all parties involved; lots of money spent on both sides and not a happy resolution for either party.

They should have gone to mediation, worked out a price, and been done with it.

 

[offthehandle]

f*cking corporations ~ the greedy mentality of these founders is appalling ... If they just picked up the phone and had called the guy and offered him $1M he probably would have sold it ... But they had to f*cking sue him for 10 times that and watch this guy go through hell to get his own name ... Insane

And remember Amazon, Google, Apple, Youtube, Facebook are no different right now in their greed as they gather up more power, influence, user base, data scaping and collection, they want to dominate the world and doing a great job at it. If you have websites and cross any of them, poof... you are gone.

 

[Recons.Com]

Nissan should have just offered him like $5M, and be done with it.

They were just baiting him to hear him name anything above reg fee and then the lawyer immediately left the room and came back with the fax of the lawsuit.

Very dirty handling of the situation. Will never do any business with Nissan Motors.

 

[Recons.Com]

When I became a Tax Manager for a large company, they had ongoing dispute with tax authorities lasting years. They were using one of the Big Firms and we kept exchanging official letters with the authorities. I cut them off, negotiated directly with the authorities and audit was completed in 2 weeks with a very small settlement paid (less than we were paying the firm). The next audit the following year lasted only a week and we already had a great working relationship.

I saw clear conflict of interest and acted: my company wanted the distraction to end fast, cheap and without creating bad precedent. The firm clearly had no incentive to end a well paid by hour job.

 

[PoliticalVII]

When you win you lose, what a story. This should be a reminder to all domainer to let go of ego and be free.

I will buy all your premium names for $1, thank you very much.

 

[offthehandle]

Is this a feel good story?

I feel bad for all parties involved; lots of money spent on both sides and not a happy resolution for either party.

They should have gone to mediation, worked out a price, and been done with it.

Exactly. Common sense isn’t always common.

 

[FolioTeam]

I know a lot of people's opinion is that he was better off selling. But I admire that he stood for what was right no matter what. I hate bullies. The fact that he took this head-on despite the several personal loses, gets a thumbs up from me.

 

[jberryhill]

The Jalopnik writer of the article apparently forgot to mention about the automobile advertising links. I am not sure why this were omitted because it's a decent article.

Because the author's only source of information was Mr. Nissan, who is unlikely to discuss that this case was more complex than his heroic re-tellings of it.

Additionally, I have never seen a piece of protracted litigation in which the parties did not, in parallel with the proceedings, exchange confidential settlement positions. Given that Mr. Nissan at one time had volunteer lawyers working on the case, it is difficult in the extreme to believe there were not settlement discussions in which numbers were exchanged.

 

[jberryhill]

I suppose he ended up with more than "$750 and a free Armani suit"!!

I would think so as well. I would also think that if Mr. Mani was unable to reach an agreement with them, he'd still have the domain name.

I have seen situations in which a domain registrant prevails in a UDRP and subsequently develops unreasonable ideas about what the claimant might be willing to pay to obtain the domain name. While, sure, there is a premium on prevailing in a dispute, it's not as if there is a pool of buyers for a name like nissan.com.

From the outside, we really don't know what settlement conversations there may have been along the way or what conversations may have been ongoing since. Settlement discussions during a dispute are confidential, so there's just no window into what may or may not have gone on. I have no particular insight into what went on, but it is a certainty that whatever Mr. Nissan spent on the protracted litigation, the car company likely spent more on it, and likely made their own calculation as to what has been economically rational for them.

If they just picked up the phone and had called the guy and offered him $1M he probably would have sold it

The courts had ordered mediations for the two parties to meet and reach a settlement three times during the complete run of the case, Uzi told Jalopnik, and while the automaker’s offer increased each time, it was never enough to settle things for Uzi.

They had three court-ordered mediations. That's unusual. Notice that while Mr. Nissan told the reporter, as the docket reflects, they had mediation sessions, Mr. Nissan is silent about what numbers were exchanged.

 

[lock]

The precedent will be the "Nissan case" which is good news for people that legitimately are fighting rights to domains. I strongly feel this is good news. I would have folded for the record but good to see someone standing ground.

 

[RobM]

Of course he can never monetize any traffic. He can also never sell the domain because a potential buyer can't monetize it either. So what has he won? I don't think people visiting the page are going to be interested in anything except the one thing he can't provide unless he wants to lose the domain and damages for passing off.

 

[toughdomains]

horrible to hear stories like this esp the fact that the guy was a legit company.

 

[Kate]

Reminds me of the sex.com saga, that was stolen from the original owner and he fought for years to recover the domain. At least he eventually got the domain back and sold it for a good amount. But it was the kind of ordeal that can ruin your life.
A whole book was written about the story of sex.com.

 

[offthehandle]

I think Uzi, shot himself in the foot at one point.

I am not posting this to defend Nissan and their corporate arrogance on an individual, if you have read anything I post, I am certainly not pro-large corporate anything. But the guy imo, simply looks to have messed up, which probably prolonged his own pain in this legal mess.

I was curious why the author did not mention which Nissan Motors because they have at least two with vested interest. Nissan in Japan or Nissan America. So went to look at the case. It was both as complainants.

UDRP's in today's world cover 4 points, and this case seems to violate number 4:

(iv) by using the domain, the registrant has intentionally attempted to attract users for commercial gain by creating a likelihood of confusion as to source or affiliation.

The Jalopnik writer of the article apparently forgot to mention about the automobile advertising links. I am not sure why this were omitted because it's a decent article. They are material facts if you are going to write such an article.

http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1105216.html

“Meanwhile, Nissan Computer registered “nissan.net” to offer services as an Internet Service Provider in 1996.   In August 1999, it altered the nissan.com website by adding a new logo with the name “nissan.com,” sold space for advertising, and registered with a website for banner advertising.   Nissan Computer received a payment for each time a user clicked through to an advertiser's website.   The first links (in August and September) were for goto.com, Barnes & Noble, CNet.com, and Netradio.com. Automobile-related ads appeared in late September.   Within several weeks Nissan Computer signed up cartrackers.com, priceline.com, tunes.com, askjeeves.com, directhit.com, safari.com, lycos.com, asimba.com, ameritech.com, and about.com;  by December, 1stopauto.com, hotlinks.com, shabang.com, fastweb.com, remarq.com, carprices.com and stoneage.com had been added.”

Later on in this typical legal document, difficult to read states:

"Nissan Computer's use of nissan.com to sell non-automobile-related goods does not infringe because Nissan is a last name, a month in the Hebrew and Arabic calendars, a name used by many companies, and “the goods offered by these two companies differ significantly.”  Id. at 944.   However, Nissan Computer traded on the goodwill of Nissan Motor by offering links to automobile-related websites.   Although Nissan Computer was not directly selling automobiles, it was offering information about automobiles and this capitalized on consumers' initial interest.   An internet user interested in purchasing, or gaining information about Nissan automobiles would be likely to enter nissan.com. When the item on that website was computers, the auto-seeking consumer “would realize in one hot second that she was in the wrong place and either guess again or resort to a search engine to locate” Nissan Motor's site.  Id. at 946.   A consumer might initially be incorrect about the website, but Nissan Computer would not capitalize on the misdirected consumer.   However, once nissan.com offered links to auto-related websites, then the auto-seeking consumer might logically be expected to follow those links to obtain information about automobiles.   Nissan Computer financially benefitted because it received money for every click.   Although nissan.com itself did not provide the information about automobiles, it provided direct links to such information.   Due to the ease of clicking on a link, the required extra click does not rebut the conclusion that Nissan Computer traded on the goodwill of Nissan Motor's mark.

The marks are legally identical;  the goods or services are related as to auto-related advertising, but not related as to anything else;  and the parties simultaneously use the internet in marketing.   The NISSAN mark is an incontestable mark, but it is also used in many channels of commerce, is a last name, and is a month.   The degree of care exercised by a purchaser is disputable.   Whereas a consumer purchasing an automobile will exercise great care, a consumer searching for information about automobiles on the internet may exercise little care and will click on all information about automobiles.   The intent of Nissan Computer in selecting the mark weighs to some extent in favor of Nissan Computer because Uzi Nissan chose a domain name to correspond with his own name, but its intent in posting automobile-related links cuts the other way.   There is evidence of actual confusion in that consumers have clicked on nissan.com to find out information about Nissan Motor.   The likelihood of expansion in product lines can again cut both ways.   Nissan Computer is unlikely to enter the automobile sales business, however, it is likely to advertise more auto-related products.

On balance we agree with the district court that Nissan Motor is entitled to summary judgment on trademark infringement as to automobile-related advertisements, and that Nissan Computer is entitled to summary judgment as to non-auto-related advertisements."
————-+

 

[JB Lions]

Took one for the team, plus has badass name - Uzi Nissan

 

[BrandMart]

Well.. Looks like Domains now need additional Lawsuit insurances.

Maybe the registrars should start selling it. You never know which bigshot oil-funded mechanical-head idiot-driven scumbag-funded corporation will come for your domain and UDRP eventually drag you into a digital brawl

 

[jberryhill]

Uzi Nissan deserve some respect from domainers!

For what? Picking a good last name? I doubt he had anything to do with that.

He overplayed his hand and they walked away from the table.

 

[BrandMart]

I would think so as well. I would also think that if Mr. Mani was unable to reach an agreement with them, he'd still have the domain name.

I have seen situations in which a domain registrant prevails in a UDRP and subsequently develops unreasonable ideas about what the claimant might be willing to pay to obtain the domain name. While, sure, there is a premium on prevailing in a dispute, it's not as if there is a pool of buyers for a name like nissan.com.

From the outside, we really don't know what settlement conversations there may have been along the way or what conversations may have been ongoing since. Settlement discussions during a dispute are confidential, so there's just no window into what may or may not have gone on. I have no particular insight into what went on, but it is a certainty that whatever Mr. Nissan spent on the protracted litigation, the car company likely spent more on it, and likely made their own calculation as to what has been economically rational for them.

The courts had ordered mediations for the two parties to meet and reach a settlement three times during the complete run of the case, Uzi told Jalopnik, and while the automaker’s offer increased each time, it was never enough to settle things for Uzi.

They had three court-ordered mediations. That's unusual. Notice that while Mr. Nissan told the reporter, as the docket reflects, they had mediation sessions, Mr. Nissan is silent about what numbers were exchanged.

Looks like Mr. Nissan was either fighting for this Name-Brand or wanted even more than the un-disclosed amount of money.

 

[lock]

Massive loss can be earned back and if he had lost the domain all is lost. He always has adwords and a domain that is still sell able. Now he is legal undisputed owner with a right to sell.