Reserve Your Domain name Now!
Domain Name Hijacking!
by Mike Banks Valentine
Domain names are becoming "hot" property - as in *theft*
for resale. More and more companies are finding they cannot get
their trademarked names as a domain name because so few good names
are left. But sometimes it's outright extortion as when a Fortune
500 company name is reserved by someone that has no intention
of developing a site under the domain, but simply "parks"
it somewhere and waits to be contacted by the big boys to purchase
the name for astronomical fees.
A more lucrative market for domain names exists in short, memorable
generic names like Loans.com or Homes.com which can apply to an
entire industry as can be seen in recent news.
One of the lesser known and more frustrating issues is when a
small business name or new product domain name is reserved by
someone hoping to make a buck or two. Here's a question faced
by small business owners getting started online.
"I've trademarked a name, but the domain name is taken, it
was reserved by another company right after I registered my trademark.
Do I have a legal right to the domain name?"
The following link is to a page titled "Domain Names, A Trademark
Owner's Nightmare"
| Check
to see if YOUR Domain Name is available by typing it into
the search box directly below (choose from .com, .net, .org,
.info, biz and .us domains). There is no charge to check availability
of domains, but if you decide to purchase your domain name
now, our pricing starts at only $7.95 - The lowest price you'll
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http://www.mdweblaw.com/home/domainnames.html
It discusses legal issues and cites two cases that have been taken
to court over domain name hijacking.
People who do this may be doing it intentionally or innocently,
but generally, you don't have a case unless you've got a long
established use of the trademarked name and can prove that the
registrant was intending to extort excessive fees from you in
the hopes you'd buy the name back from them.
You can take it to court if you like, but it's not likely to do
you any good unless you can prove that the registrant had the
intent to squat on the name and not use it, hoping that you would
be willing to pay excessively to get it back.
Still, the case may cost you more than it's worth.
This is an unresolved battle with more and more companies. Until
laws are passed (not likely) there will be no way to protect a
domain name other than being the first one to reserve it. You
may have a case if they are harming your business in some way
by the inappropriate use of that name. But if they are simply
using for another purpose, you might consider selling them the
trademark instead. ;-)
Contact the registrant of www.your-trademark.com to see who it
is, there's a way to find the registered owner by going to this
address and typing in the domain name.
If your domain name
is already taken, search
the WHOIS database to see who owns it!
It will return a registrant name, host name and the name servers.
You might consider contacting them and simply explaining your
trademark situation, your desire to own the name and then simply
ask if they would consider a reasonable solution. Possibly something
as simple as a suggestion that you'd like to avoid a court battle
and make it worth their time to sell it to you by offering twice
what they paid for it.
If they have not spent large sums developing a branding strategy
for the name, they may be willing to give it up. If it's only
few months old it may be possible that they haven't begun to develop
their site or their strategy yet. You may be assuming the worst
but then be confronted with a friendly and accomodating person
willing to look for an equitable solution!
Good luck with your own names and trademarks!
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