Domain name dispute

none

Anybody has any real experience? Or can recommend a good solicitor to defend a name? Cheers!:)

mick.fr

none wrote:

Anybody has any real experience? Or can recommend a good solicitor to defend a name? Cheers!:)

If you have a company called blabla and have the name registered as a brand or so you are legally entitled to get the domain assign to you. I guess this is your case.

If not, first come, first served.

Before going to see a really expensive solicitor, try to contact the guy in question and the ISP, send them a fax with your company registration/brand details.
Let them know that you are right and going to a court, might be expensive for all of them.
The ISP might be able to sort you out without having to pay thousands.
Check the ISP website as well where "your domain" is hosted, they usually provide link for this kind of situation and explain you what to do in that case.

Hope this helps

miju

you dont need a solicitor thats what the IEDR is for , are you disputing the name or is someone disputing it with you , a little more info would be helpful

mick.fr your again giving half assed information , registering a domain name does not entitle you to a domain name if the domain was registered before the formation of your company , if it was registered after the formation of the company then you may well have a case but it is also dependant on what the current site is being used for in relation to the domain name

jmcc

none wrote:

Anybody has any real experience? Or can recommend a good solicitor to defend a name? Cheers!:)

Is the domain a .ie, com/net/org/biz/info or .eu? They have different procedures. Without knowing the details, it is impossible to recommend any course of action.

Mick.fr - merely have a company name does not automatically entitle you to a domain by that name. Intellectual Property is a bit more complex than that.

Miju - the IEDR is not there to sort out disputes. It has its own dispute resolution procedure based on WIPO/URDP.

Regards...jmcc

none

Thanks, Mick:) But that's me who has the name and receives threats. That's an eu one.

miju

honestly are you cyber squatting or do you have a genuine claim to the domain?

jmcc

How far has it gone? Is it at ADR stage or just some e-mail claiming rights to the domain? It would help if you posted the domain name so that people could tell you if there is an obvious conflict. What rights are being claimed (trademark, business name etc)?

Regards...jmcc

none

Honestly, I just like the word.;) Don't you have things that you just like?

miju wrote:

honestly are you cyber squatting or do you have a genuine claim to the domain?

Adam

Nobody appreciates being arsed around when they're going out of their way to help a stranger, you should probably bear that in mind none.

Adam

Nobody appreciates being arsed around when they're going out of their way to help a stranger, you should probably bear that in mind none.

jmcc

none wrote:

Honestly, I just like the word.;) Don't you have things that you just like?

Well if you can't be bothered to post the domain, it is futile to try and help. The domain business is not a game.

Regards...jmcc

none

I suppose they claim they have a business with a similar name but that's apparently their first attempt to go online as I can't seem to find them having a dedicated Web site. So they decided to send me an angry letter and see if I'm scared:cool:

forbairt

As far as I know they don't really like people squatting on the eu domain names ... if you just like the word and haven't actually done anything with the domain name ... it makes their case all the more simple ...

They potentially have a claim to the domain name ... registered business or similar ?

You hold the domain name but have done nothing with it ? ...

Therefore I'd say its just a matter of time before they get it from you ?
Liking a word and going to court over it ... (which would probably come to a few grand at least ?) would seem rather silly ..

jmcc

Well since you couldn't be bothered to post the domain, it is reasonable to assume that you are just cybersquatting and the complainant is going to probably win an ADR against you because your attitude just doesn't cut it when it comes to domain disputes. You haven't made any attempt to check whether there are grounds for complaints and you haven't posted the domain. Some of us don't have the time for kids' games when it comes to domain disputes.

Regards...jmcc

none

Thanks, John:) I really appreciate your experience in the domain business but for me it's still a kind of game so I'm trying to see how expensive this might be;) In any case, I only asked about a good solicitor in the first instance. I'm sure there must be such. And after all, if buying property or arts (which is not a bare necessity) is OK, why such a backlash against buying a domain?

aidan_walsh

why such a backlash against buying a domain?

Basically, because you're being a prat, essentially holding this company to ransom while trying to make as much out of them as you can because you "like this word".

jmcc

none wrote:

Thanks, John:) I really appreciate your experience in the domain business but for me it's still a kind of game so I'm trying to see how expensive this might be;)

If they have a community trademark, you are in trouble. If they have a US tm, it may not be so bad. Without knowing the nature of the threat it is pointless to speculate as to how expensive the process will be.

And after all, if buying property or arts (which is not a bare necessity) is OK, why such a backlash against buying a domain?

Try living in someone else's property or copying a book. Domain names are covered by intellectual property law so it has gone a bit beyond the Wild West that it once was. The .eu ccTLD is run by cretins and it is massively squatted. Even so, there are laws that apply to the domains and a process (ADR) by which a domain can be taken back from cybersquatters. The danger is that you've registered a domain that is protected by one of these rights (CTM or whatever). Without knowing the domain, or the origin of the threats, it is a waste of time to speculate.

Regards...jmcc

mick.fr

miju wrote:

mick.fr your again giving half assed information ,

I am really getting tired of being insulted every time by you, and every time you keep saying wrong things, I keep proving you I am right, and you do not bother to reply I was right.

What is wrong with you for god sake ? Can not you simply admit you were wrong and it will be ok.

Your statement here is completely wrong, is based on nothing, only on your own vue of the subject without legal knowledge whatsoever.

When you allow yourself to criticize people who have the experience please try to prove what you are saying with some kind of links or so.

Many cases are going to the court, because this is the only legal way to recover a domain if the current holder does not want to. Sometimes they do, in exchange of a small fee, and end of story.

But many cases are going to the court definitely.

And to JMMC :

I did not said if you have registered a company you can claim an existing domain name, I said Registered brand name/trade mark.
And yes in most cases you will get the domain name back to you. Because this is the way intellectual property is working :-)

mick.fr

none wrote:

I suppose they claim they have a business with a similar name but that's apparently their first attempt to go online as I can't seem to find them having a dedicated Web site. So they decided to send me an angry letter and see if I'm scared:cool:

I have seen cases where the defendant did not replied within a certain timeframe, so the court ordered the ISP to transfer the domain to the plaintif.

miju

mick.fr wrote:

I am really getting tired of being insulted every time by you, and every time you keep saying wrong things, I keep proving you I am right, and you do not bother to reply I was right.

sorry mick.fr you'll find that was actually other posters doing that not me but back on topic pls

mick.fr

keep it on topic

jmcc

mick.fr wrote:

And to JMMC :

I did not said if you have registered a company you can claim an existing domain name, I said Registered brand name/trade mark.
And yes in most cases you will get the domain name back to you. Because this is the way intellectual property is working :-)

"if you have a company called blabla and have the name registered as a brand or so you are legally entitled to get the domain assign to you. I guess this is your case."

Now I don't see the magic word 'trademark' there Mick.fr, do you? A brand and a trademark are two different things.

Trademarks have classes thus one company could have a trademark for 'Polo' cars and another for a range of clothing. Each trademark is valid and each could have an equal claim to a domain. Most of the .eu cases, where companies have bothered to take an ADR, have been about cybersquatters using dodgy Benelux trademarks to register the .eu variants of well known trademarks. Because EURid is run by incompetent fools, it has completely discredited .eu in the eyes of European businesses. Well that and the fact that around 80% of Irish and UK companies and businesses that applied for their business name under Sunrise 2 failed to get them. Many of these domains would have been picked up by cybersquatters such as Buycool etc.

Then you have the jurisdiction of the trademark. Is the tm a Community Trademark, valid throughout the European Community or is it just a national trademark, limited to one jurisdiction?

In the .eu's case, ADRs (the Alternative Dispute Resolution process) are decided by panelists (mostly just lawyers from various EU states) rather than by judges.

I don't know if you have any experience of the domain business and domain disputes Mick.fr but the way you are throwing around legal terms would suggest otherwise. In a domain dispute, the terms are complainant and respondent. If a matter moves outside the dispute resolution policies to a court, it becomes a lot more expensive.

If the complainant in a domain dispute in .eu has provable EU rights to a domain such as a trademark, and respondent (the domain registrant) does not reply to the ADR then there is a very good chance that the complainant will win the domain back by default. However the .eu ADR process is a half-assed system at best and it has, in the past protected cybersquatters and domain warehousers.

I don't think that you have much experience in the domain disputes and domains business Mick.fr. The reason I say this is because I'm not your average boards.ie poster when it comes to the domains business.

Regards...jmcc

none

jmcc wrote:

... because I'm not your average boards.ie poster when it comes to the domains business.

That is exactly why I value your input so much:) I still think you're not always right (like drawing similarities between buying a popular domain and living in someone else's property) but that's more on the philosophical side of the issue. As for the legal advice, I really think your experience is invaluable. Thanks a million to you and anybody else bothered to respond!