Interesting email I got....

[Badger]

We were instructed by our client XYZ to carry out an audit of their current domain name registrations and to ascertain if any were currently registered to non related entities. It has been brought to our attention that you have registered two domain names (XYZ.co.uk and .com) which are associated with the XYZ organisation. Our client is concerned with protecting their intellectual property both online and offline and to ensure that there is no brand/image damage. We have noted that the domains appear to forward to a search portal which does not convey our clients image or message and as such is of great concern, we have been instructed to enquire what your intentions are for these domains.

I guess a prelude to C&D but interesting last comment huh..??

 

[weblord]

should you or not reply when you received this kind of email? do they have the xyz.net or .org in their possession?

 

[RJ]

"such is of great concern" :o They're talking about a parking page I assume.

Best of luck with this one, Ian.

RJ

 

[Kate]

Are you talking about LLL names ? Acronyms are generic in nature and I hardly see how this particular company could make claims on these names.
At the most this could be a scare tactic prelude to a reverse domain hijacking.
I would ignore this message (as long as it's not a bona fide C&D by registered mail) or if you are selling tell them they can get it at a price.

 

[Badger]

no, the XYZ is just an example... the name is a company name, kind of non-generic.

I replied with :

I have no plans for these domains.
I acquired them as part of a bulk domain purchase some years ago.
I would not dream of violating anyones trademark and personally know nothing of your clients business and /or brand and / or image

and they have come back with:

Thank you for your response, we fully appreciate it was never your intention to violate any of our clients rights. We would like you to consider transferring these domains to our client. We would be happy cover all the transfer costs and compensate for the registration and domain renewal fees you have incurred. We look forward to your response, thank you once again for your speedy response.

 

[Masahiro]

Take the money and run, but make sure you get a profit.

If you refuse, they might get nasty - but see if they are a largeish company or not. If they're a smaller company, I doubt they'll do much.

 

[weblord]

looks good for the reply, i was thinking in the line of a prelude to a domain appraisal services, why not request a phone call from them and if they really want they will call you, email is first line of communication only. good luck and may you earn more than them lol

 

[DNQuest.com]

"no, the XYZ is just an example... the name is a company name, kind of non-generic."

It seems to me that the name is not generic considering it's a company name.

It is not uncommon for companies to inquire about intent of a domain. I have received several of them in the past and I explain my stance and then they leave me alone. I received one such mail from Target about targetname.com. But it can lead to a C + D, especially if it on a parking page (or portal as they call it). That does show bad faith if they wanted to get nasty.

 

[polo]

DNQuest.com what do you usually say to them to leave you alone.
Most registrars have parking page with ads for domains of their customers. Can it be used as bad faith for the owners of these domains.

 

[IAmAllanShore]

Do let us know what you decide to do...

(And don't forget if they want to take them by force, it costs a pretty penny for you & them)

-Allan :gl:

 

[briman1970]

Hmmmmmmm

Have you uncovered enough information about the sender of the email and the company associated with them to make sure it's not just some domain hijacker? I agree with Weblord. I would ask for a conference call between you and the two entities before I considered handing over the domain.

Just MHO.

 

[DNQuest.com]

I do get a little tired about the "make sure it is the company" responses. Read the email, they are not asking for the domain or anyhting along those lines... geesh

As far as what I did, in the wxample above, targetname.com was one of the names I secured when I was looking to brand my domain business. I secured about 12 names before I settled on one. I let Target know that. I did not offer anything like "I won't make a store out of it", "I own;t be competing agasint you", "I won;t be in the same catagory". I just give my intent only and I keep my letters to that only.

The reason I do not go into assuring them that I will not be in the same catagories as the company or won't compete against them is because it will show that I know the company and I know about TMs and that would be me acknowledging thier TM and me knowlingly infringing on thier mark.

I usually never receive a response back, when I did, I was told to make sure I did not infringe and they would be monitering me.

Parking pages can be construde as "bad faith". One of the criteria in disputes is a person rights to a TM name, a parking page is not considered astablishing rights to a name.

 

[polo]

Thanks DNQuest. When you register domain through GoDaddy (for example) they will put page with ads on you domain. I don't believe it can be used as bad faith against you.
Do you know for any case that use it as bad faith.

 

[DNQuest.com]

Actually, a parking page for a domain means you are not establishing interest in the doamin, thus not creating a right to a domain. That is a criterea used in WIPO. The TM holder will state you had no reason to register the doamin and a parking page would help their case.

 

[flishess]

It's a scam -- they want your domain -- don't give it to them -- They say they are working for the other company, yet the company involved would not hire an outside source to try and claim a domain that they could just take you to court and get anyway.

If they are legit they will take you to court and you would lose the name --

Don't just havd it over to them --

Do some research and find out if this is a legit company --

If they are legit they will have a phone number you can call --

If all they give you is an email adress, don't buy into it --

Your choice, but I would just ignore this email.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Without knowing the name or if it has other potential legitimate uses, it's hard to give a definite answer. If it's from a company or attorney, you could verify the email address as legitimate or not as to whether to take them serious.

If legitimate, here is some info that may help you make your own decision:

It costs abou $1000 to file a UDRP, and more if they hire an attorney to do it. A small company may find it cheaper to settle for less than the legal cost to take it from you.

However, a larger or more visible company may not care, and will want to make an example of you even if it costs more than you ask. This gives them history to use next time a similar case comes up. If they think you are covering costs, they may deal. If they think they are being taken advantage of, they may pay the legal costs on principal.

It's basically a trade off between principal and pure cash. For a big company principal may be more important and pushing it will just get you a UDRP or legal fees. For a small or low profile company you may get a small profit. The closer you get to the cost of filing UDRP, the less they'll figure the difference is to fight you on principal.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[marknf5]

DO NOT TRANSFER//UNLOCK YOUR DOMAIN! It's A SCAM! They just try to get the domain for free and then sell it to anyone who pays big for it...

You cannot get a trademark on 3 letters only... Reply you can buy it for 10K if not interested please don't bug me again.

 

[labrocca]

DO NOT TRANSFER//UNLOCK YOUR DOMAIN! It's A SCAM! They just try to get the domain for free and then sell it to anyone who pays big for it...

You cannot get a trademark on 3 letters only... Reply you can buy it for 10K if not interested please don't bug me again.

And another person who can't read a thread. XYZ.com was an EXAMPLE.

 

[AdoptableDomains]

You cannot get a trademark on 3 letters only...

Not entirely true. Think IBM, NCR, AOL, etc. You'd be hard pressed to defend a TLA domain against a TLA trademark holder as well known as one of these.

Even so, the TLA was presumably just an example.

 

[bluesman]

As a point of clarification, there is parking and there is PARKING. A generic default parking space at Go Daddy is merely a HOLD on a domain, and therefore does not give WIPO any ammo against you.

However, a fancy-shmancy parking page on Sedo, festooned with tons of ads that you loaded it down with, and headlined with notices like "This domain name for sale now!" and "Buy this name fast before it's gone!" is a whole different story!

The two are certainly worlds apart.

BTW, as to those "what are your intentions towards my daughter?" questions, they're most likely a scam. Last year I got several (including in phone call form), but when I simply replied that my celeb names were not for resale purposes (using a famous name to turn over a quick profit), but were only tribute fan sites, they shut right up.

Later, when I checked up on them, I found that they were part of a notorious group of grifters (Kentech) that regularly "swipes" domain names every chance they get.