question How to rid myself of a trademarked domain?

[IMadeABigMistake]

I was intent on making a fan site towards a global very well known tech company and managed to buy their .dev domain during the EAP. The site would teach users how to develop applications for use on their mobile platform. Hence (company).dev being a great name.

I was intending on having ads to cover the rather large cost of the domain (4.5k). I very stupidly bought it without thinking about the legal implications of using a trademarked domain and have now found out that not only can I not have ads on this website I likely wont even be allowed to use the domain full stop.

I have been informed that this 4.5k is down the drain, which is sad but in a way I deserve it for purchasing something without doing my research and hopefully this mistake saves me a lot of money in the future. An expensive lesson.

What is my best bet for ridding myself of the domain? I've contacted namecheap and they gave me three options

-Let it Expire
-Send it to a friend
-Sell on their marketplace

I do not want to hold onto it due to the possibilities of receiving a nasty letter. I do not want my name tarnished and would very much hate to have it published on the web in relation to a domain dispute.

How can I get rid of this domain? Bonus points if the method involves me recouping some of the initial cost...

 

[JudgeMind]

Question:

Did the company owning the trademark contact you or send you a UDRP? If not then I would suggest the option of deleting the domain name unless the renewal fees are very high. I've had two cases similar to this in the past, I did not delete the domain, I did not develop the name either. I pointed the names to a simple contact form landing page and sat on the and waited. I eventually let one of the domains expire as the renewal cost was over $300, the other I renewed for 2 years. I received a message from the company holding the trademark asking what I was doing with the name. I was up front with them and told them I had originally acquired the domain for a development project we were working on but we didn't end up using the name. They then asked if it was for sale. I said, we typically do not sell our domains but feel free to make an offer. Their offer was for mid $x,xxx, I didn't reply to it for 3 days and then they sent me another message asking if I got their first offer. I replied and simply said, yes we have received your offer, thank you. After a week of not responding to their initial offer, they contacted me again and said, we are prepared to pay $8,000 max to acquire this domain name, please reply. I replied with a link to escrow.com transaction and deal was done.

If you hold a trademark term, don't list for sale, don't auction it, don't put ads on it. A simple contact form lander will allow them to reach out to you. Doing it this way leaves things open to what your intentions are for the domain and whether they will threaten legal action against you for holding the domain. In the event they did threaten legal action, I would have just given them the name and it would have been over. Since I did not make any previous revenue on the domain, nor did I develop it or clearly post it for sale, its tough to prove I registered it in bad faith.

JM

 

[Kenny]

This is what I love about this place!
A new member comes in with a legitimate problem and the experienced members step right up to help with great advice.

Thank you one and all.

Peace,
Kenny

 

[Joe Styler]

Speaking with my personal opinion on this.
It all depends on how the company normally deals with people who register their domains. Some try to take the domain, some will ignore you unless you do something with the domain, some will try and buy it, and some will attempt to sue the pants off you and hope to bankrupt you and make an example for anyone else who wants to register their domains.
At the end of the day it makes no difference what the company decides to do, it is what you decide to do that matters. By that I mean do not register a domain that is a famous trademark or otherwise protected. Companies, people, and small businesses spend a lot of time, effort, and money building their brand it is not right to register a domain that infringes on their mark. I'm no lawyer like Mr. Berryhill and am not pretending to give legal advice in any way, just stating that registering a domain of a brand that you think 30% of the people have in their hand right now, it is very hard to see how you could not know this was a trademark.
This doesn't only reflect poorly on you for purchasing a domain like this but on domain investors as a whole who try very hard to invest in valuable generic domain names and steer clear of any kind of trademark but who many times, nonetheless, are labeled cybersquatters.
Everyone makes mistakes and everyone has to learn somehow. I am not trying to rub salt into your wound or saying you are a bad person. I just do not think this was a wise choice. I think your best option at this point is to cancel the domain, the registrar can do this whether they offered you this option or not via support. They can force it to delete and go back to the registry. You may, and there are many variables here which I am not privy to, be able to get a refund. It does not hurt to ask. Again, speaking for myself, I would prefer not to have a trademarked domain name associated with me personally and would ask the registrar to delete it and take my loss as a lesson learned. We all grow through these types of situations.
I hope you are able to get some other domains with that type of budget that you are able to resell and recoup your losses on this one.

 

[Kate]

Name tarnished in what sense? UDRP is not like a criminal liability or something? Why the so much fear???

UDRP rulings are published online and indexed in search engines. Losing a UDRP is not a criminal offense, and the odds are slim that an employer will turn you down (for example) just because they found out in Google that you are a cybersquatter but e-reputation is important. It is negative content about you, that you have no control over. 20-year old rulings are still online for the whole world to see. The right to be forgotten doesn't exist there.
If you lose a UDRP, you are also building up a negative history. If you get hit on another domain, the panelists are more likely to side against you in light of your past behavior, even if your guilt is debatable.

You can even be sued over cybersquatting (Lanham act). It does not happen often but it has happened. If you do stupid things, stupid things happen.

 

[jberryhill]

What he said.

True story, by the way....

I got married in Las Vegas late one evening, and when we got to the courthouse for our license, we asked the security guard on duty which floor we needed to go to. He directed us to the correct floor, but I will never forget his name. I looked at his name badge and his name - I KID YOU NOT - was "Sam Sung".

We always think about him on our anniversary.

So, anyway, if he's moved on from being a security guard for the Clark County Courthouse, you might want to see if he's gotten into a development business of some kind.

But if you can't find him, yeah, delete this name immediately.

 

[jberryhill]

an english name + a verb ... which is so common there is a 30% chance it is in your hand

Can your name do something else?

I guess it depends on how good a singer Sam is.

There are only so many things for which there is an appreciable percentage probability that it is in your hand right now (i.e. reading a screen), and which are "an english name + a verb". I can only think of one.

 

[Kpett]

There is a fourth option with Namecheap - delete the name today. If you wait for it to expire, you are still open to UDRP. If you give it to a friend, they are open to a UDRP. If you try and sell it, you could find yourself in legal trouble. If you don't want your name tarnished, you should just delete the name with the Registrar and move on.

 

[IMadeABigMistake]

I contacted support in relation to a reversing the sale and they gave me those three options I listed above. I also found a section in their Terms and Conditions stating that no refunds are given for premium domains or for Early Access Program domains of which this domain is both.

The domain is not a generic name but can be broken down into an english name + a verb but upon reading the domain 99% of people will read it as the brand which is so common there is a 30% chance it is in your hand right now.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Does Google bear any responsibility for allowing sale of an apparently obviously TM term to someone not the TM owner?

Has this legal argument ever been used I wonder?

Is not them selling (through NameCheap) the same thing as an individual reselling name?

It is so much money that despite the Namecheap TOS I would push someone for refund or perhaps refund minus a reasonable handling fee.

Bob

 

[Internet.Domains]

Contact the trademarked company's legal department. Plan on giving them the domain. Depending on your willingness to help them, they may reimburse you some or all of the fees.

 

[NonHipster]

I was intent on making a fan site towards a global very well known tech company and managed to buy their .dev domain during the EAP. The site would teach users how to develop applications for use on their mobile platform. Hence (company).dev being a great name.

I was intending on having ads to cover the rather large cost of the domain (4.5k). I very stupidly bought it without thinking about the legal implications of using a trademarked domain and have now found out that not only can I not have ads on this website I likely wont even be allowed to use the domain full stop.

I have been informed that this 4.5k is down the drain, which is sad but in a way I deserve it for purchasing something without doing my research and hopefully this mistake saves me a lot of money in the future. An expensive lesson.

What is my best bet for ridding myself of the domain? I've contacted namecheap and they gave me three options

-Let it Expire
-Send it to a friend
-Sell on their marketplace

I do not want to hold onto it due to the possibilities of receiving a nasty letter. I do not want my name tarnished and would very much hate to have it published on the web in relation to a domain dispute.

How can I get rid of this domain? Bonus points if the method involves me recouping some of the initial cost...

Offer to transfer the name to the company that holds the trademark for free!

 

[wwwweb]

Seriosly $5K for a .dev nobody knows about, do you know the caliber of established .com you could have got for that price, with a little bit of leg work. Did they provide you a tm clearly acceptance form?

 

[IMadeABigMistake]

Oh god. You got scammed big time.

Well my stupidity scammed my wallet.

 

[NickB]

I contacted support in relation to a reversing the sale and they gave me those three options I listed above. I also found a section in their Terms and Conditions stating that no refunds are given for premium domains or for Early Access Program domains of which this domain is both.

The domain is not a generic name but can be broken down into an english name + a verb but upon reading the domain 99% of people will read it as the brand which is so common there is a 30% chance it is in your hand right now.

You need to tell them to delete the name as you no longer want to own it due to trademark issues. They will then delete it.

This is not the same as asking for a refund.

 

[IMadeABigMistake]

Did the company owning the trademark contact you or send you a UDRP?

No they didn't, however I expect that they will soon given the size of their company, along with the fact that almost every other TLD with their name on it is taken.

Thanks for the rest of the info.

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Name tarnished in what sense? UDRP is not like a criminal liability or something? Why the so much fear???

Bad baddddd advice.

 

[DOMAIN ILLUMINATI]

First of all, is important to not give up the attempt to get the domain name grace deleted (and) to get a full refund - although success in this attempt may look like unrealistically at first glance.

Simply contact your registrar (again) and let them know that you understand the terms but you are still reckoning with their support and that you will also contact Google directlyyy

Then visit
registry.google/report
and choose the option "I have an issue that is not mentioned above."
Explain all to them in clear words and insist to get your domain name grace deleted and demand a full refund (both through your registrar of course).

At least you really should try this / go these steps - it is not excluded that they (your registrar in accordance with Google) will make an exception and will grace delete it / refund you.

+++

If it all won't work out, then write or call the appropriate company and tell them your problem and the circumstances.

Let them know that you are absolutely willing to transfer the domain name immediately (if possible / if not, then as soon it will be possible) and free of charge to them and assure them your full support in this transfer process.

In addition to that, let them know that you nevertheless would appreciate it if they would pay you what you have paid for it - remind them, that you would anyway not make any profit if they pay you what you have paid and that they would only help you not making a losss

Don't forget, behind all companies are humans, so its always worth a tryyy

 

[jberryhill]

 

[branding]

What he said.

True story, by the way....

I got married in Las Vegas late one evening, and when we got to the courthouse for our license, we asked the security guard on duty which floor we needed to go to. He directed us to the correct floor, but I will never forget his name. I looked at his name badge and his name - I KID YOU NOT - was "Sam Sung".

We always think about him on our anniversary.

So, anyway, if he's moved on from being a security guard for the Clark County Courthouse, you might want to see if he's gotten into a development business of some kind.

But if you can't find him, yeah, delete this name immediately.

Lol, there was supposedly a guy named Sam Sung working in a US Apple store as well.

 

[canswift]

Lol, there was supposedly a guy named Sam Sung working in a US Apple store as well.

...except on his business card, he's in Vancouver, Canada!

 

[IMadeABigMistake]

Thing is I don't think there is a delete option. Answers on google for that question are not valid and point to cancelling hosting and market place listings but not deleting the domain itself.

 

[Lord Antares]

Oh god. You got scammed big time.

Message the registrar and tell them you want the name terminated.

 

[NickB]

Contact their support team and they can manually remove/delete the name

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I would be surprised if Namecheap don't have a delete option like GoDaddy have, although like you say not listed. I would ask their customer service.

Are you certain there is no return possibility? See if your state has a time period to cancel contracts and try to use that argument. This is a lot of money.

Don't list the name here but is it a non generic word. I am not a legal expert but if a generic word does it have commercial use unrelated to obvious TM owner? Although even if so I guess would not make economic sense.

Feel for your pain.

Bob