It's unusual for a corporation to pay more than WIPO fee for a name, or much less

[David G]

Someone commented a firm paid $26,250 for their non-generic company name, perhaps due to the expense and time involved in litigation. I don't think that is so.

Most corporations won't pay anything for a name as a matter of policy, even for their company name, or else will never pay more than the WIPO cost. I have run into that several times.

Big firms really don't care about legal fees as that's already factored into their corporate budget. They also likely have attorneys on retainer or on staff, so the cost to the firm is insignificant anyway. It's a matter of principle with them in not paying, not the expense or time involved. Plus, the WIPO process is actually fairly fast.

Was not aware of the 50% price increase at WIPO as posted here. That sure is a big increase when world-inflation is so low. However, they started out far too low. It's absurd for big firms like AOL or Yahoo and others to pay such a very small fee. I always thought the WIPO fee should have been at least $50,000 for a big corporation, lower for small firms but still at least $10,000.

There have been far too many frivilous cases filed mainly due to the low cost. Before WIPO a firm had to pay $10,000 to $25,000 or more, in legal fees to grab a name via the Courts. Now they can do it for less than $2,000 and also much quicker than the Courts. No wonder there are so many unjustified WIPO cases.

P.S. Thought I would start a new thread on this as the old one was getting off-topic.

A lot boils down to how you handle the inital threats corporations make.

Rude and arrogant - is likely to anger them and they will act in "rage"

Nonsensical replies - e.g. talking about copyright when its a trademark issue, or saying how they are bullies etc will make them think they can walk all over you if they apply the pressure

firm but polite reply citing caselaw - introduces an element of doubt that may be enough to get them to negotiate or drop it.

best case - get an attorney to respond as this shows you are serious about defending what you own.

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Disputes are a human thing and subjective - some people will pay some won't - no matter what you do. They may genuinely feel you have registered the domain to ransom to them - if you can politely show them the reasons why you registered the domain that can help break them from their blinkered thinking (number of google returns etc can help with this).

Very well-rounded answer, safesys.

[mike]

I agree with that Timechange . What Safesys says is true and good advice when a questionable name is at stake.

BTW, TC, I looked similar to the handsome young guy in your sig today (June 3rd, 2002) when I was in my mid twenties. Really I did. But time has changed all that. Be hard to tell looking at me now. That was back in the mid 80's. Those were good days. No worries back then like now. :^)