I OWN A DOMAIN WORTH BILLIONS

[sarahsdomains]

OK, may be not, but i need some advice.

i own a domain related to a major major MAJOR payment method company.

i got an email saying i better not sell it trade it in any way or form to save the company from going into disrepute or i will pay heavily .

what can i do with the domain? if anything.

 

[hookbox]

Point it at a porn site and tell them to fuck off.

Just kidding

 

[jberryhill]

Hey, pass it on to me and let me deal with them, and all the headache that there is.

Getting rid of the domain name does not get rid of the potential liability for having registered it and then having transferred it to someone else after being warned.

That's like saying, "Hey, if you run someone over with your car, sell me the car and let me deal with it."

It doesn't work that way.

 

[sarahsdomains]

im dropping it. it was fun being threatened by the big boys.

 

[EmotiveDomains]

Tell them you accept payment via P@yPal.

Again, just kidding

 

[America First]

Just because you get a cease and desist letter means nothing if you can prove you have or had no bad faith intent.

I am 2 out of 3 with the BIG boys because I did my home work many years back and up to this past August. I will provide some details but per NDF it will be limited and I'm only putting the names in parts no ext.

I had the all star game, I proved to the plaintiff by taking my time, studying what they said and coming up with and Idea that I had the right to own this. I figured that coming after me would mean going after others that use their "claim" SM. (they claimed a service mark) I then proceeded to offer it to other companies (plural) for free, and they each said they would back any challenge by plaintiff. I then told the Plaintiff that they would have to proceed and that others would stand to the claim they have no exclusive rights. Result- (Plaintiff drop case Won & Sold under NDF )

I had A O L Always, used for (All Our Lives Always) that did not fly and I blame past forum post offering it for sale years before, saying it would be a great domain for A O L, they would come knocking, lol I was young and dumb during those post... They threatened and I said bring it,(thinking I knew it all) they then sent me (within 3 days) 200 docs showing I had bad faith intent. From forums, auction sites ect... Things I had forgot I had done. Result-( LOST, but I was paid for all reged years for not fighting...I had many mistakes, the fight would have been to big for the worth.)

Know this, (I learned many years ago the hard way) anytime you post a domain on a forum it goes all over the net, so when selling on NP spell dot com or dot net ect.... and separate the words if more than one. It will not track google ect as well as when you put in the full domain name.

Antiques Mall of America well, you know who this is, MOA came after me this past August, saying I was using their likeness to confuse and send a 3 page cease and desist.

Now equipped with 26 years of experience in this business, I knew how to deal with this and win. I sent a reply via email to everyone on the email, they sent ( they CCd 4 company lawyers and heads).

In short I sent this:
MOA
We noticed you had the domain a few years and let it drop after 8 emails were sent to renew and a redemption email. You still proceeded to let this drop, now that I have picked it up you are asking for me to forward it to you due to the similarity of your said business.

1st. I am informing you that we will not release the domain to you.
2nd. We will argue that we have no bad faith intent.
3rd. You sell retain this is secondary and antiques
4th. If you cared, Antique(S) Mall of America is still available and you have not ever purchased that. (after a month of giving them a chance to buy it, they did not, we did)
5th. If you feel like this is an infringement of your name, why is it that in Las Vegas NV a company in good standing with the state has been in business since 2006.

To clarify, our stand is, we have done nothing to affect your business or hurt the reputation or confuse the consumer that this business name is the same as yours. Antique vs Retail.

Result-Case resolved with no further action.

My point is this, because they are big or send a cease and desist does not mean you have to cave, think it through and make your decision. I would have said I will give to you for the reg fees paid.

99% of the time that's acceptable.

Cheers!

PS. I don`t and never have bought TM domains to try to win a case, its just best to avoid them.
Can you PM name?

 

[AP Industries]

Whenever I received a UDRP I have always tried to ask for a small fee for transferring domain over to them.

I mean small, like $40-$60 (hand reg'd at avg $10 (com)). It's worked 2 times out of 5 with one of the times it not working they let me keep it if I agreed to not sell it (don't ask me any sense or logic in this, but I do STILL have it).

 

[Wannabean]

the worse they can do is UDRP you (don't trust me I'm not a lawyer)

Well it depends on circumstances but no the worst is not udrp. The worst is they sue for a colossal sum. I mean an unimaginable amount that might completely ruin the OP. Not a LOL'ing matter.

Like I say it depends and I'm no lawyer either but what you wrote is wrong.

 

[Wannabean]

I could also win the powerball lottery. (agree though, who knows what and how far some companies will take things)

The fact that the trademark owner is already across this shows that they are extremely aggressive in protecting their mark. If the OP is not very careful with what they do with this domain I would think the chances of getting in a messy and expensive lawsuit would be significantly higher than a lottery.

Read between the lines. They've already warned the owner off just for registering the name.

 

[Nem0]

one word 6 letters two syllables

Dont mess with the paypal bull, you'll get the horns

 

[The Durfer]

have you read trademark definition, they trademark specific, you buy general. Its up to you whether you want to compete with them or eg, eggs.com - invest in gold.

what I mean is the trademark they request has a defined point as to what is trademarked. If your use of the trademarked name does not follow their definition you can defend it. If you use it for exactly why they trademarked it, then you're screwed.

http://www.trademarkia.com/trademarks-search.aspx?tn=cats see this.

 

[mr-x]

i was thinking google.

loogle.com..

 

[johnn]

Call the guy at 11:00pm at night. He may be drunk and pay you a billion dollar.

 

[Wannabean]

Unless it's an un-trademarkable term there is nothing you can do with it. From your opening post it sounds like it isn't though, so from what I've heard so far your sat on a land mine not a pot of gold.

 

[sarahsdomains]

Whenever I received a UDRP I have always tried to ask for a small fee for transferring domain over to them.

I mean small, like $40-$60 (hand reg'd at avg $10 (com)). It's worked 2 times out of 5 with one of the times it not working they let me keep it if I agreed to not sell it (don't ask me any sense or logic in this, but I do STILL have it).

they told me i cant sell it... if i sell it back to them, they might turn around and sue me. LOL

 

[AP Industries]

the worse they can do is UDRP you (don't trust me I'm not a lawyer)

 

[AP Industries]

Well it depends on circumstances but no the worst is not udrp. The worst is they sue for a colossal sum. I mean an unimaginable amount that might completely ruin the OP. Not a LOL'ing matter.

Like I say it depends and I'm no lawyer either but what you wrote is wrong.

I could also win the powerball lottery. (agree though, who knows what and how far some companies will take things)

 

[sarahsdomains]

who knows, you guys might see it on some drop list soon. think of me when you do.

 

[sarahsdomains]

have you read trademark definition, they trademark specific, you buy general. Its up to you whether you want to compete with them or eg, eggs.com - invest in gold.

what I mean is the trademark they request has a defined point as to what is trademarked. If your use of the trademarked name does not follow their definition you can defend it. If you use it for exactly why they trademarked it, then you're screwed.

http://www.trademarkia.com/trademarks-search.aspx?tn=cats see this.

will definitely look into that aspect.

 

[gilescoley]

Yeah drop it

Escrow or Paypal?

 

[Pierre Barnard]

p@ypal

 

[sarahsdomains]

p@ypal

No comment

 

[Chris Hydrick]

p@ypal

Did yall know there are 13,077 names regged in .ist?

 

[jberryhill]

Can you name even one single time that someone sold or passed on a domain name that was the trademark of someone else, and was successfully sued, if they had not used to domain name for any purpose?

Yes.

Poe v. Schiafone et al. US Dist. Court for the Eastern District of New York, Case #: 1:03-cv-05692

That case involved the domain name poe.com which the plaintiff, Richard Poe, claimed as his trademark. The domain registrant at the time the suit was filed was Greg Ricks, a well known domainer. The lead defendant, Blake Schiafone was the previous registrant of the domain name who had sold it to Greg Ricks. He no longer had the domain name, but he was sued for having had it and having sold it to Ricks.

I've seen it happen a few times. There are a lot more domain lawsuits than you ever hear about on blogs, and this sort of thing can and does happen.

Now, I'm not sure what you mean by "successfully sued". Was he sued? Yes. Did he have to hire a lawyer and rack up significant expenses in a lawsuit where he had no leverage to work out a settlement, because he no longer had the domain name to bargain with? Yes.

 

[JagG]

Who emailed you and said that? The company or someone else?

Why did you buy it? What plans did you have when you handed over the cash ?