discuss Purchase of company's domain (.org)

[Darion]

Hey all,

I wanted to discuss how I should evaluate a domain I just purchased.
It's a .org of a multi-billion dollar company (industrial engineering company) where a .nl of that name was sold for ~1.5k USD.

1. Is it completely legal to purchase without intent to deface their trademark(s), copyright(s), etc. [basically just squatting the domain].
2. Should I attempt to resell it as soon as possible? And if I should, what outlet do y'all believe I should go with?
3. General opinions on this type of situation.

Thanks for the discussion.

 

[Dominique]

We just dont have enough information to conclude anything reasonable here, but it doesnt sound good to me.

For example, if you have total.org ("Total" is a French multinational integrated oil and gas company), you should be safe unless you do something wrong.
Want to know what could happen if you have so-called "well known trademark"? Check this out.
"total.ir" was lost in UDRP and the Panel in this case concluded:
"...the Panel reminds that selling domain names is in itself not prohibited and may amount to a bona fide offering of services...
In this context, the Panel notes that the mark TOTAL has less distinctive character although it is not descriptive for the products and services for which it has been registered and has to be considered as a well-known trademark...
In view of that well-known character and the fact that the Respondent must have been aware of it, the Panel concludes that the sale of the Domain Name in question cannot be considered as a bona fide offering."

Another example. If you would have lego.org, you would have to prove you have rights or legitimate interest in a domain name (and, unfortunately, its not selling it on marketplace for a profit).

Other example, if you have "nestle.org" you are lost from the beginning + no one would buy your domain.