question New company wants to buy my old domain name.

[namexf]

Hi guys.
I am new to this.
I will try to simplify.
I own a .com domain name from many many years. Its been parked all this time.
Now a new company has contacted me and they want to buy it from me.
This company's name is the same as my domain name. And they have recently registered a local domain
with that name. But they are interested on buying the .com version (from me).
The key point is that I registered the domain name before this company even existed with this name.

Is there a risk that they could forcefully take it away from me if I try to negotiate a price that it is too high?

I am open to sell it but I would like to know how much can I ask.

Thanks in advance.

 

[IPBFlippers]

Based on what I've read so far, the offer seems legit. Ask them to make you the best offer and if you are okay with it, sell.

 

[ResoluteDomains]

I am not 100% sure about who has right

I am now looking at trademarking costs.
And trademarking a name is relatively cheap. I didn' know this. In USA its around 300$ for 10 years. But in smaller countries is way cheaper.
So a trademark fee can be as cheap as a domain fee.

So i think it is absurd that trademarks can grant one company the right to take away domains that were registered prior to the trademark.

Imagine the situation. Person A registers domain XXX.
Person B has a company called BBB and has registered this trademark.

Ten years later person B thinks BBB is a boring name and XXX is a much cooler name. He decides to trademark XXX.
And then steal the XXX domain.

The domain owner could argue rightfully that person B registered the trademark XXX in bad faith to steal the domain.

No?

None of us are attorneys. We could possibly advise you on the value of the domain, if we knew it, or perhaps what steps to take in negotiating..... but when it comes to issues of trademark and IP law as it pertains to domain names only thing we can advise you is to speak to a qualified legal professional who works in that field.

 

[Michael Ehrhardt]

I am reading that Grossman bought the domain in 1992 and in 2005 had to defend himself against a UDRP from Tesla Industries, that curiously was founded also in 1992.
Tesla Motors was founded much later and maybe because of this, they didn't sue Grossman. They paid between 500k and 1M$.

Tesla.com was sold for 11 Million

Amazon.com bought Amazon.se ( Sweden )

 

[branding]

just tell them to get stuffed because you are about to launch a new range of socks

Self washing socks. It's gonna be huge.

 

[namexf]

@namexf - I fee the frustration of some of the other participants in this thread. What has the cost of trademark registration anywhere in the world, got to do with your situation. It's beginning to "feel" like you are a student, trying to get some answers here for a project. If you are not. Then you are way overthinking everything here. Just throw out a number you will be comfortable with, double or triple it, and give them a price, asap. Payment via Escrow.com with buyer paying the escrow fees. You do have a bank account I presume? A broker is going to get 20% of any sale price. So make sure you take that into consideration with your asking price. Who is your registrar. I will give you my opinion about their trustworthiness as a broker. Which will be my last contribution to this thread.

No problem. All the legal issues are clear now to me with the socks example.
Re. the payment, no problem. we will sort that out.
I don't think i will require a broker. I will research a bit more about this company and then will place my offer (ie. i will quote a price). I think it will be 10-20k as discussed before.

Also this company looks interesting to me. We might have some cooperation in the future. Maybe they are interested to license my self washing socks after i patent them.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Thanks for viewpoint @jamesall and while I agree that on many things one can be definitive without a legal background, I would argue that is not always the case in questions of intellectual property, where nuances and knowing intimately established precedents can be important.

selling, then just tell them to get stuffed because you are about to launch a new range of socks.

Just to point out that UDRP panels have established that plans to use a domain do not establish use unless those plans are detailed and establishable beyond the domain holder saying they have them. At least that is my understanding (not a legal opinion).

Bob

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

Thanks for viewpoint @jamesall and while I agree that on many things one can be definitive without a legal background, I would argue that is not always the case in questions of intellectual property, where nuances and knowing intimately established precedents can be important.

Just to point out that UDRP panels have established that plans to use a domain do not establish use unless those plans are detailed and establishable beyond the domain holder saying they have them. At least that is my understanding (not a legal opinion).

Bob

Let's not forget that the OP had prior usage and has the freedom to change his usage as long as he keeps paying for renewals and doesn't tramp on their toes... with his socks.

 

[Name Trader]

No problem. I have many projects on the make that could be associated with the domain. I rarely complete my projects because i am not persistant but i do have projects all all kinds.
But lets suppose my project is about self warming socks. This would possibly conflict with this company. But if i prove that i started developing my selfwarming socks before they registered the trademark, then i would be safe too, i think.
If there is any problem with the selfwarming socks, i can always change my project to the self washing socks.

This is just crazy. You've been told that your domain registration supercedes their TM, by several people. So why are you persisting with these selfwarming/washing socks ideas? This really is my last comment in this, which has become, a stupid thread, IMHO.

 

[karmaco]

Let us know if it sells. It doesn’t seem you are really trying to sell a domain just chat. I would not submit an offer but make a buy it now button. They want it they make an offer.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

Let's not forget that the OP had prior usage and has the freedom to change his usage as long as he keeps paying for renewals and doesn't tramp on their toes... with his socks.

Just to clarify, my comment was not meant to comment in any way on the status of this particular domain name. Clearly it has numerous factors in its favour as you say. Rather I just wanted to make sure that readers did not think that because they come up with a personal plan for a domain name, that privately held plan, without evidence of some specific and verifiable action, is not deemed legitimate use by URS and UDRP panels. Clearly it is a different situation if the business is in operation, or the plan has involved other verifiable steps, such as business registration, consulting contracts, etc.

For example earlier this year the BCG(.)top loss in URS there was as I understand it no monetization at all, no use of domain that in any way involved the complainant, and the owner claimed and showed an early website (although some question re date) and personal notes for a plan for use, but still the domain name was lost even though literally hundreds of possible uses for the three letter acronym. Was that right? Not in my opinion, but it is now another precedent for such determinations. Itt seems to me UDRP and URS precedents got widened a lot in 2019.

As I said, this is not to say anything specific on this domain name. But don't think coming up with a plan for a domain name is enough for panels to rule that you have a legitimate use for it.

Bob

 

[Bob Hawkes]

But Bob, this BCG case has nothing to do with my case! BCG is not a dictionary word and besides, the company was very prior to the domain site. The company was a big old company created in 1967. Even more, they already had the BCG.com domain.

I did not say it was. And it's not the UDRP re au but the URS re top I quoted. My reference was only to the idea that it is enough to say you plan to use a domain for some purpose. That is not enough to hold any weight unless you actually use it or have externally verifiable steps toward that use.

If they have an electrical product they are selling, then just tell them to get stuffed because you are about to launch a new range of socks. That's that bit sorted

I just did not want the impression left for other cases that is all you need. But as I said before, all our nonlegal opinions are exactly that.

Bob

 

[carob]

Yes, you are probably right. But they asked me for an offer first. Thats why i told them that i would make an offer in the next days.

You can change that, just giving them a floor price is "making an offer". You are offering to let them make an offer. And you can always drag it out by saying you need to consult a third party. Nothing will happen in a rush in the holiday/newyears period.

There are plenty of threads on here about negotiating if you want to read more - but the key thing you need to know is what is the lowest price you would accept. The other party probably knows their maximum and what price they are willing to open with and will hope to pay as little as possible - can you blame them?

 

[BlackCatsAreNice]

That would qualify as supreme trolling.

If that's the case, hats off to you. You are master level.

 

[Ostrados]

It has found just the .com and the .net.
But there are 2 more that i know and these have not been listed by dofo.

Then name is not high xx,xxx you need to quote lower price, but the problem is that the damage has been done, if you now quote much lower price they will think that you are desperate! You should had done correct domain evaluation from beginning, others asked you to post the name as image you should have done that to get correct feedback!

Anyway try now to counter in mid xx,xxx and hope that back and forth negotiations will happen.

good luck

 

[namexf]

If that was the case, then you could:

1) find a profitable company without a trademark to their name
2) make a trademark of their exact name
3) take their domain away and hold it for ransom
4) ???
5) profit

If your ownership of the domain predates their trademark, then you should be good.

Haha. Sorry. I don't understand your plan. But it sounds mean.

 

[namexf]

Great then. Do not delete these correspondences at all.

Okay. I normally keep all my emails.

 

[namexf]

Another issue is that my domain has a "cloacked" whois (by my registrar). I chose this to avoid reverse whoises (on my person name to expose my other domains).
Thus, the person who contacted me used a "cloacking email address".
Should i contact him revealing my real identity and email address? Or should i use a cloacking address again before any deal is done? (I dont know if this is even possible from my side, i will have to check my registrar for this).

 

[ExploitOdds]

Doesn't sound like you are attached to the domain. That is good! What is a good deal? A good deal is when both parties are happy, imo. Sounds like a potential XXXX or XXXXX sale . . . Maybe both parties will be happy??!!

 

[namexf]

Doesn't sound like you are attached to the domain. That is good! What is a good deal? A good deal is when both parties are happy, imo. Sounds like a potential XXXX or XXXXX sale . . . Maybe both parties will be happy??!!

I think XXXXX is too much. I will have to research and look for similar cases. Namebio has been suggested above in this thread by john888.

 

[rh2000]

To the OP

Forget all the asking for advice and engage your client.
You have a best case scenario, an exact match domain and a company has asked you to purchase.

I agree. The OP might just be nervous and don't know what to do.

 

[xynames]

It’s not necessarily an exact match domain. An EMD is where the real word defines what the company does. For example donutcrazy for a business that sells donuts.

Here, the definition of the dictionary word may have nothing to do with the company’s business. The word could be an archaic never used one that happens to be what this company decided to call itself.

I can’t think of an EMD that would not have multiple uses and appears that OP is saying that this domain of his is probably useless except to this one company.

 

[namexf]

Hello all. I am back.
This forum is fantastic. I cannot believe you guys are so generous giving advice.
Thank you so much.
I am going to answer your points.
But first let me update on the situation.
I contacted my registrar and they said that I can stay anonymous all through the selling process. As i told you, the domain's real whois is hidden and the potential buyer contacted me using an "intermediary email". I cannot use this intermediary email to reply. But anyway I can create an anonymous gmail account and email him anonymously.

Or maybe it is better to email him openly using my real name and usual email account?
But then he will probably do a reverse whois and find that i own other idle domains. I don't know if this coud be an issue? Maybe he could acuse me of hoarding domains?

 

[xynames]

Without knowing the exact name you’ve probably gotten all the useful input available at this point. If others wish to burn rubber guessing in the dark you might get some more.

 

[Mister Funsky]

Should I contact him with my real name or it is better to stay anonymous?

First step is to get them to make an offer...no need to break the veil of anonymity at this point.

btw, if someone has given you advice or input you find helpful, generally we all appreciate a 'like' or 'thanks' (I am insecure and need all the reassurance I can get!!!)

 

[Ja Kai]

Calm down ... you guys seem very excited but I don' think I can even reach 5k with this name. Also I am not in the US and neither the potential buyer.

Bruh.... It's called getting shit done. You can't even find the "thanks" button - as you stated above. I'm thinking you have zero chance of getting this done and was trying to be helpful. Good luck.