information Scared to do outbound for your domain? Try this?

[WhoaDomain.com]

Hello,
Got a domain that for whatever reason you are afraid or scared or worried to contact the enduser who may or may not have a Trademark (registered or unregistered) and billions of dollars to sue you with?

not sure if this is a 100% catch all solution but here's my idea.

1. Soon as you register your domain? put privacy on your domain from the start. There are many registrars that give free privacy with every reg like @Epik.com. If at one point the domain you register was ever public? then forget this idea because chances are there is a way for your enduser to find out who you are. YOU DO NOT WANT THAT! That would make this idea pointless. If at the beginning it was ever public? forget it.

if this is the case. Transfer the domain to any registrar that provides free privacy after transfer. Then proceed below.

2. So assuming the above is covered. check the whois on your domain. Use whois.godaddy.com because everyone knows Godaddy brand. so when Godaddy provides the whois info most look at it as legit.

Make sure the whois shows your info is private.

3. Forward your domain to your whois info on Godaddy link below sample.

https://www.godaddy.com/whois/results.aspx?checkAvail=1&domain=yourdomain.com

Why do this?

4. Create a bogus email address. Something that looks like a legit First Name Last Name domain name. no extra characters. make it look legit and business like. adding numbers to an email address just looks spammy.

5. Send inquiry to company like.

"I wanted to get more information about your product Midget Worm. I went to MidgetWorm.com but found something odd. I tried to send an email to the email provided ([email protected]) and got a response that the domain was for sale? What is this all about? Is your company still in business? is this product no longer available? Please explain. Thanks."

Of course if they reply back? I personally would not reply back. Ever.

People sometimes forget to check their emails for weeks. So no replying back is ok and understandable.

Nothing is guaranteed in life obviously. worth a try? or stupid idea? Let me know.

With any luck whoever reads your email will tell who needs to know and they will contact you via

[email protected]

I'd reply using a different fake email address. never your business email address. Make sure this email address does not have any info that identifies who you are.

If they choose to buy? when it comes time to pay. make sure to remain private in the escrow payment if possible.

I guess of course if the enduser has agreed to buy, then domain privacy is already a non-issue but you never know with people. They could try to stick it to you any chance they get. so better to remain private from start to finish.

I have recently just started using this technique for my exact match domains and let me tell you. It sure does give me peace of mind not worrying if the people I just reached out to or told them my domain with an Efty page with my info on it will have their lawyers reach out to me and threaten me.

Captain Obvious would say "In that case, why go thru all this? why not simply not trade in TM issue domain names?"

The truth of the matter is domainers at one point or another will eventually "invest" in a domain that they later find out will have TM issues. Either Registered or Non-registered.

The unregistered TM's are the worst problem because most domainers simply head to USPTO and when there is no TM they go and invest in the domain name.

Then they find out there IS a business that's been operating on the MARK that's an exact match for their domain name.

So they have two choices. Dump the domain at a loss? or keep it and try to sell to the TM or unregistered TM holder. but how do you inform the TM holder that the domain is available without sticking your neck out?

This idea is just a solution to mitigate a lawyer contacting a domain owner about their domain that may or may not be infringing on the client's mark.

It's so easy for a lawyer to just check the whois of a domain find your name or your efty page. Google your name and then find your address and then send you a threatening Cease and Desist letter via snail mail.

Why make it easier for them? Right?

Let's just hope that the Registrar won't provide the Lawyer info on the registrant or that a Lawyer would not bother to go that far.

So will you give this a try if needed? Let me know in the comments below!

I don't use this technique for all my domains just the ones that keep me up at night! lol



Edit: So....don't forward to your whois.godaddy.com whois info. Send it to whois.com instead.
It seems the whois info provided by whois.godaddy.com omits the email address for your registrant email address which will be the privacy email address provided for you like below.

[email protected]

I don't know what the whois info provided by Whois.godaddy.com omits that info specifically. But I guess avoid forwarding to that. use your whois.com info instead.

like below.

www.whois.com/whois/midgetworm.com

 

[Berserker]

Let's just hope that the Registrar won't provide the Lawyer info on the registrant or that a Lawyer would not bother to go that far.

Yeah, I do think you're kidding yourself there. If the TM holder wants to do something, whois privacy won't stop them or any lawyer. IMHO, chances are extremely high the registrar will give out your info just following a simple request. If not, a court order will take care of it.

Your idea is to bait the TM holder: Let them know this domain exists and is for sale. A "stealth" way. Hopefully they will be interested to buy. Worst case, you're just asking for troubles by directing them to you. In case of troubles, if you propose to drop the domain, or better, just give it to them for free, you should be fine. So, there's always this exit strategy (they may bet on it). If the price you're asking is low enough, maybe it's easier for them to buy you out rather than pay expensive lawyers. Unless it's a principle problem for them. But sure, why not try it. As long as you're prepared to deal with potential problems, you're good to go. Troubles can arise any day in any case.

The "technique" you describe above seems very "artisanal". First, no "midgetworm at superprivacy.com", that looks very unprofessional from the start. You have the domain, you set up "contact at midgetworm.com" (which you can also use to deal with the TM holder). No email redirect. A real email.
Second, showing your whois, seriously? You setup a nice landing page, not a domain sale one, something generic. With a contact form very easily accessible. That looks more like it.
Lastly, the email from your "dumb customer" may need a little refining.

But overall, yes, why not.

There's also the direct approach: Contact the TM holder and propose them your domain. Isn't that easier? I fail to see any upside or advantage in "playing games" here. It really seems just being shy (for no good reason). There would be a plot to make a lot of customers email them over time to try to make them think people go the the other domain (yours!) first. So, this domain is better than the one they use. You could continue to do this until they contact you (they probably would at one point). It's dishonest, complicated to pull out correctly (all the emails have to look legit and to come from different people), and a lot of work. But it may work (the "buy you out" way, or the "troubles" way. The latter may have better odds).

For a "one email" technique, you're complicating things for nothing. Contact them direct, IMHO.