Is a plural form an infringement on Intelectual Property rights?

[Damion]

Hi guys,

I hope i could get a response to this matter as soon as possible.
I have registered a domain that is the plural form of a name that has been used by a company in it's domain and company name.

Example:
Company name and domain used is spacejourney.some extension

And i registered the plural form namely,

Spacejourneys.some extension

Am i infringing any intelectual copy or property rights here?
I have contacted the owner (example) of spacejourney.some extension and explained that the plural domain spacejourneys.some extension is for sale.

And now i have been approached by a attorney claiming i need to give up the name spacejourneys.some extension otherwise i am infringing on property rights.
Not sure if i give the right wording but the claim is i am infringing on this companies rights to own the plural name.

I have seen on this forum people with plural domains and advice to contact the company(ies)behind the singular domain to see if they might have any interest in aquiring the plural form. So i always thought this wouldn't be a problem and i wouldn't be doing anything wrong if i would.

Am doing something legally wrong here?

 

[wvccboy]

There is a thing called domain sitting, where you have a name that is supposed to be rightfully owned by the company.

For example, you have microsoft.org. Microsoft is a registered trademark, so they have all rights to take it away from you.

You may want to contact the company about the matter to see if they'll allow you to hold the domain.

Reason for this sitting is because many companies are afraid that you will start a service that will be competitive and therefore, they lose money, so they ask you for it.

 

[Damion]

Thank you for your response.

They have instructed an attorney to contact me to give up the name so the probability to let me hold the name is out of the question of course

Since i have no affiliation regarding the branche the domain describes and their own innitial domain is already their company name and business trademark i have no chance in disputing this matter.

Oh well...

 

[Dave_Z]

Big mistake what you did. It's called "cybersquatting".

And yes, the plural version can also infringe on a trademark. Because of what
you did, you definitely better transfer it right away and save yourself trouble.

Unfortunately you had to learn it the hard way. But at least you learned it.

 

[Mattias]

Big mistake what you did. It's called "cybersquatting".

And yes, the plural version can also infringe on a trademark. Because of what
you did, you definitely better transfer it right away and save yourself trouble.

Unfortunately you had to learn it the hard way. But at least you learned it.

Omg how can this be?

For instance, if me in sweden registers spacejourneys.com and a company in the U.S has the name spacejourney.com, how can they lawfully claim my name?

Or is it just u.s to u.s not u.s to worldwide?

 

[Dave_Z]

Omg how can this be?

For instance, if me in sweden registers spacejourneys.com and a company in the U.S has the name spacejourney.com, how can they lawfully claim my name?

Or is it just u.s to u.s not u.s to worldwide?

What the OP did is one clue how to avoid a similar fate. And trademark holders
have options to resolve this even if the other party's in another part of the
globe.

If it comes to that point, it boils down to proving you have legitimate rights to
the domain name in question. Plus a couple of other things, of course.

 

[-JC-]

Omg how can this be?

For instance, if me in sweden registers spacejourneys.com and a company in the U.S has the name spacejourney.com, how can they lawfully claim my name?

Or is it just u.s to u.s not u.s to worldwide?

It just may be possible. Take a look at: http://www.ncchelp.org/

 

[Damion]

There is a big difference regarding Nissan since the guy from jeruzalem had already a business going involving the name Nissan. That which he can use to contest the claim of ownership by Nissan the auto supplier.

If someone has no affiliation or holds a business regarding a certain domain and if another companies core business evolves around this domain you're basicly lucked out and if you even try to sell the domain you are proving ownership of bad faith.

With the whole .eu battle a lot of socalled trademarks where applied from which a big lot of them holds no real value.
But in my case i at first saw no immediate issues since the domain isn't a distinctive trademark like Nike or Sony or something.

And the name was made up by me in a sprea of making up names that would have potential in the months/days before the land rush of the 7th of april.

I got a phonecall out of the blue from a lawyer representing the firm that claims ownership. I dusted it of and within a couple of seconds the conversation was terminated. I even thought this was some cheap trick to manipulate me into transferring the name

Then i noticed the guy was telling the truth and he infact did send me an email already and even left me a voice mail from which i both had no knowledge from.

Then i continued to inform myself through specific agencies which i coincidently asked for advise before with a different matter but from which i knew they where knowledgeable as well on domains and such.

So i asked them about what the deal was and after discussing it with them for me it was painfully clear i haven't had a leg to stand on not to mention the funds to dispute this matter.

I agreed today on transferring the name to them, the firm that claims the domain in question.
I get a restitution for the reg fee so i haven't lost anything

But yes lesson learned Dave Zan sometimes TM issues or propriety rights issues are lurking in the background from which you don't in instant see the imminent dilemmas.

Oh well, comes with the territory right? You just need to know when to back down or to continue if there is any ground to continue when pre-made measures have been created for such disputes.

Live and learn.

 

[-JC-]

Yes, big difference from Nissan Computer's case and your incident...but I was just merely pointing out that, yes, it is possible for a company to sue another company/individual for having a domain name in their possesion that was TMed to them. I would have done the same as what you had for the same two reasons you noted, but I just wanted to show that companies can and will sue.

 

[Damion]

I see KidGuko Thank you for your insight.