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Q: DOMAIN NAME OWNERSHIP. ( No Answer,   2 Comments )
Question  
Subject: DOMAIN NAME OWNERSHIP.
Category: Computers > Internet
Asked by: telephones4u-ga
List Price: $100.00
Posted: 24 Feb 2006 04:09 PST
Expires: 26 Mar 2006 04:09 PST
Question ID: 700347
I registered a domain name some time ago which a large company with a
turnover of $1.5 billion is asking me to transfer to them because
their lawer says they have the rights to the name. I am not trading
under the name but would like to know if they can legaly take it from
me. Am I able to sell it to them? If I sold it to a company in Spain
would they still be able to sieze the name.

Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 24 Feb 2006 05:43 PST
- Where is the company? Where are you located?
- Does the Spanish company has the same name?

Clarification of Question by telephones4u-ga on 24 Feb 2006 05:59 PST
The company who wants the name is in the UK and so are we. If the UK
company does have a right to take the name from in a transfer with
Nominet then would this still be the case if the name was registered
in another country like Spain for example. We are very small and they
are very large with in house legal team.

Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 24 Feb 2006 07:05 PST
This is a hard topic to address in the abstract.  It would be easier
if we knew the names involved, but I can understand your reluctance to
post that information here.

Let's say the UK company name is "ToughGuy Ltd".  How close is your
registered name?  That is, do you own toughguy.com?  Or is it more
like toughguystinks.com?

Similarly with the company in Spain...how close is their name to ToughGuy?

It's also important to know why you have the name in the first place? 
Is it a name you've used in business, or is it more like something you
speculated on, hoping it had resale value?  Is the domain an active
site that you use, or only a registered name, with no site?




Also, regardless of the law, it's worth repeating what you already
seem to be well aware or...they're a big company, with lots of
lawyers, and you're the little guy.  Even if you wind up winning in
the end, the battle may be so costly as to not be worth it.

Have you offered to sell them the name?  It may not hurt to ask?


Let us know as much as you can about the context, and perhaps we can
help clarify the situation.


pafalafa-ga

Clarification of Question by telephones4u-ga on 24 Feb 2006 07:32 PST
Thank you.
The domain name is a persons name plus the item, for example:
"www.harryramsdenschips.com" The PLC own, for example
"www.harryramsdenschips.co.uk" and they are going global so they want
.com which I have. I was going to use the name but instead went with
another one so this is just registered to me. I do not intend getting
as far as courts but would like to know where I stand so I can
obviously as them to make me an offer. Let's say the above made up
names were in business, one sold potatoe chips in the UK and the other
sold poker chips in the US. Would the UK company have rights to claim
the .com if "harryramsdenschips" was there trade name.
I realise this organisation is massive but I would like to gain out of
this and not just be bullied into transfering the name.
Answer  
There is no answer at this time.

Comments  
Subject: Re: DOMAIN NAME OWNERSHIP.
From: pinkfreud-ga on 26 Feb 2006 20:03 PST
 
In the example you've given, "www.harryramsdenschips.com", your case
would be much stronger if your own name were Harry Ramsden than if you
had purchased the domain name because you knew there was a Harry
Ramsden company that made chips. Purchasing names of known business
entities, and later offering the names for resale, is sometimes
frowned upon by the courts.
Subject: Re: DOMAIN NAME OWNERSHIP.
From: telephones4u-ga on 28 Feb 2006 00:25 PST
 
I purchased the name to use because we sell products the company makes
and I was going to use it for my site but I went with a slightly
diferent name. I didn't register it for resale and this is why they
have come to me asking for it.

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