I've recently received a notice from a company

[tim ericsson]

I own a domain registered in 2005 and I've recently received a notice from a german company saying that they own the trademark that is the domain name. So I've confirmed with USPTO database search, there's not any such trademark applied/registered, so i checked in their countries (germany) tm database site and find that they filed trademark application in 2012 and got registered trademark in 2015 .
Does the UDRP apply if I'm not the germany resident? For example, the trademark is registered in the germany, but I (the owner of the domain), live in a different country, where the trademark is not filed. Is the domain legally theirs?
Does the UDRP apply in this case ? am I infringing on their trademark by owning the domain? What should I write in the reply mail ? Please help.

 

[ZapNano]

Well you are right about this.

There are lawyers that do as you say. But not in the IP area. Those contingency lawyers are largely and almost exclusively in personal injury. Anyway, thanks for your "no sense contribution".

If I dediced to have a company and used a DN for my company; I know damn right as an owner it is my responsibilities to secure my business. However, if I wait that long to get the most important thing for my business; then you can assure I will be as a reasonable person as I can. Numbers and dictionary letters, and words; is another thing to considered. You are right, your exactly right; my no sense, doesn't smells strong likes yours.

 

[frank-germany]

If you are in another country and there are no trademarks in your jurisdiction pertaining to this domain, thenmake use of it immediately. If it is parked, remove it from parking immediately! Set up some eMail services and go participate in some forum discussions, create yourself a business card in photoshop etc...

thats good one

best way to avoid any infringement of the most trademarks
is to set up a dating site


datingfactory

and off you go with content and legal use





---
I am not a lawyer no legal advise
just my private knowledge

 

[john888]

If they have proof that he has infringed on their trademark, couldn't he sell and transfer the name to a friend. Friend then immediately puts up a coming soon business web page. Soon after site is now full of Amazon widgets selling products that are not related to company's trademark. Any time you get am email making a claim on your domain name, don't expect an easy sales transaction. Expect a domain name theft.

 

[mattG]

If they have proof that he has infringed on their trademark, couldn't he sell and transfer the name to a friend. Friend then immediately puts up a coming soon business web page. Soon after site is now full of Amazon widgets selling products that are not related to company's trademark. Any time you get am email making a claim on your domain name, don't expect an easy sales transaction. Expect a domain name theft.

Doing this would be a trademark violation. Best bet is to sit tight.

 

[tim ericsson]

Thanks to all, I will update here if receive any other mail/message from them.

 

[premkumar]

Tim don't reply to them and don't offer any sale or intent to sell. Most probably a german company don't spend time to file case in US. If they do, their expenses will be 5X to 10x times higher for them. Also Germnn domain is not .COM and its .DE, just avoid them until you get anything from court.

 

[ZapNano]

Tim don't reply to them and don't offer any sale or intent to sell. Most probably a german company don't spend time to file case in US. If they do, their expenses will be 5X to 10x times higher for them. Also Germnn domain is not .COM and its .DE, just avoid them until you get anything from court.

For 7-10years they have been avoiding trademarks; now they want trademark? if I was a trademark co. I would have charged them 7X current fee + accrude interest + penalty.

 

[DU]

Who is infringed on who.

You can't infringe on a domain name but you can infringe on a trademark.

Whether you can profit from this depends a lot on factors no-one here is privy to - such as the name, strength of mark, persons involved. etc etc etc, as outlined before.

 

[imc]

also they said that, they are legal owner of the domain name as they have registered trademark in their country.

First, determine - How valuable is the domain to you? If your domain is worth tens of thousands, then, based on the valuation you KNOW it has, file a TM for your domain yourself by setting up a business plan. A TM does not have exclusivity unless your domain knowingly infringes on the opposing party's business interests.

If you can afford it, hire a lawyer. There are a few as members in NP.

Do what it takes.

 

[denalimt]

For my opinion, if you are not german resident and your domains makes no business in germany, the story ends there. and also it must be considered that trade marks live in business classes. A mark can be protected only in certain classes. So if you own a mark in a certain class, you cannot claim rights in another class (of business types). Therefore i would not care

 

[Domain Galleria]

I can't stop laughing. If that is how trademark works, I will simply look for domain names that could fetch me around $10,000,000.00 and get them trademarked as soon as possible and thereafter threaten current owners with litigations and once they cowardly relinquish their precious domains to me, I put them up for sale.

Never allow yourself to be intimidated by anyone. I suspect they are interested in buying your domain but don't want to pay good money

 

[forge]

Filing a UDRP cost I think is around $2400 - $2500. No company will file it unless you demand more than that. You should reply them. I'm sure they will offer you.

That is simply not true. I was given notice and never mentioned a price. UDRP was filed because they were ready to play hardball from the get-go. You need to know who you're dealing with and go from there.

Gobs of horrible advice on this thread. DU shed some light on that.

 

[apapu]

@tim ericsson,
As I Know.
Its not a problem if nationality trademarked.
Its a Problem if International Trademarked.

If you have Mcdonalds.com of course its a trouble.
But if you have berkahbestari.com (a company in my country), its not a problem

 

[cocaseco]

Its a Problem if International Trademarked.

To the best of my knowledge there is no such thing as an International TM. A company like McDonalds simply registers their name in every country they want protection in. You can use the "Madrid" system which allows you to file one application for multiple countries, but in the end it is still a series of individual registrations.

 

[decades80]

Thanks for that. Actually I argued Occam's razor in domaining . You have 14 days to respond, so enough time to analyze the text in details and argue at each paragraph. This was my second case. The first one was at UK, cause Ive registered Typo of enterprise.co.uk and even when full of TM violation ads in mediation process the Enterprise Holdings bought it from me...

 

[decades80]

Yeah, I actually didnt register the domains in bad faith and when I am able to prove it, everything is fine. In both cases I stopped the ads immediately, because I didnt want to be ignorant. Anyway it was my mistake that I havent checked the TMs. But I guess all the process depends on the TM holder. I just wanted to add even when it comes to an UDRP, you have a chance to respond free of charge and you have nothing to loose. But it depends from case to case. Some complainants would simply skip the mediation process.

 

[ZapNano]

Yeah, I actually didnt register the domains in bad faith and when I am able to prove it, everything is fine. In both cases I stopped the ads immediately, because I didnt want to be ignorant. Anyway it was my mistake that I havent checked the TMs. But I guess all the process depends on the TM holder. I just wanted to add even when it comes to an UDRP, you have a chance to respond free of charge and you have nothing to loose. But it depends from case to case. Some complainants would simply skip the mediation process.

That's about right; the only thing that you can loose, is by not saying anything. And there are some people out there that are so negative. Discouraging you for speaking up and depend yourself. ...

 

[decades80]

They have my understanding. They are afraid because eventually UDRP can evolve into something worse. So if I knew by the registration I was profiting on somebody TM I would handle them my domain immediately and write an apology letter. But some are so arrogant they even put a price quote at 2.000.000 USD and try to profit in addition from the TM holder. And in those cases its not hard to prove the presence of bad faith. But the story continues, in addition there are small amount of cases when people get actually sued on the foundation of UDRP decision for tens of thousands of dollars.

 

[ZapNano]

They have my understanding. They are afraid because eventually UDRP can evolve into something worse. So if I knew by the registration I was profiting on somebody TM I would handle them my domain immediately and write an apology letter. But some are so arrogant they even put a price quote at 2.000.000 USD and try to profit in addition from the TM holder. And in those cases its not hard to prove the presence of bad faith. But the story continues, in addition there are small amount of cases when people get actually sued on the foundation of UDRP decision for tens of thousands of dollars.

Just like I said on my previous opinion; about you can still respond and tell your story. And it does not have to be mean and monetary approach. It's for win win situation. If you are going to be greed and the like, they can smell you a mile away.

 

[ZapNano]

I would compare it to poetry. If I copied and pasted some verses of poets I am familiar with, thats stealing intellectual property, BUT if I by coincident come up with 3 verses exactly the same as of one famous poet I wasnt aware of, this actually isnt ..

Ok decdes80.

 

[WilsonM]

What's the update? How did it go?

 

[Nogics Technologies]

First of all you have done a big mistake by not registering your trademark which is quite cheap in most of the countries. Secondly, If you are incorporated with same name in your country, you can put matter in your local high court as Writ petition to claim your domain. During this period, the other company will have to stop proceedings as the matter is sub judice.