Advice Please

[Dingo]

Hi

any help or advice that you can provide to steer me in the right direction with this one would be appreciated.

One of the domains I own is a generic name and has several meanings. For arguments sake it is similar to the word/name nurse.com

There is however an international company that goes by this name and has a well established branding of the word and trademarks on the word in terms of their products. Using the example above there is a clothing company called NURSE that everybody knows as a brand of clothing.

My question is , as you might have guessed, do I have to give it up to this company if they ask for the name. It's probably a dumb question but my gut feeling is that I do not have to given the generic nature of ther name.

Any advice???

Thanks
Dingo

[DaddyHalbucks]

The key maybe a legitimate use. Do you have one?

[Steen]

Dont offer to sell it to them and dont open a clothing store with that domain

[Dingo]

Originally posted by DotComCowboy
The key maybe a legitimate use. Do you have one?

I don't personally DCC but am happy to sell it to someone else who has. And yes there could be many legit uses for the name that were not related to clothing.

Thanks

[Dingo]

Originally posted by devildude8989
Dont offer to sell it to them and dont open a clothing store with that domain

Thanks DD.
I certainly have no intention of using the name in any way with clothing. I will take your advise and not offer it too them. However, they have approached me via a legal firm requesting that I transfer the name to them and have offered a nominal figure for my troubles. To be honest I wouldn't even sell it to the average punter for the amount they offered so i am not quite sure how to handle it.

[LewR]

Originally posted by Dingo


Thanks DD.
I certainly have no intention of using the name in any way with clothing. I will take your advise and not offer it too them. However, they have approached me via a legal firm requesting that I transfer the name to them and have offered a nominal figure for my troubles. To be honest I wouldn't even sell it to the average punter for the amount they offered so i am not quite sure how to handle it.

Are they from Oz?
Do they have US TM's as well?

You can email me at Lew@LewR.com with the name and a price if you would.

[Dingo]

Originally posted by LewR


Are they from Oz?
Do they have US TM's as well?

You can email me at Lew@LewR.com with the name and a price if you would.

Thanks Lew

They are from US and yes have US TM's

Email sent.

[dtobias]

It would be best for your side if you were actually *using* the name in its generic sense, rather than just warehousing it.

[Dingo]

Thanks Dan.

It's at the point now where the lawyers want me to suggest a price I would be happy to sell the name to them for. I will let you know how we go.

Cheers
Dingo

[Steen]

Dont companies sometimes make offers for domains just so you will accept it then use it against you @ WIPO?

Just wondering, lawyer(s)?

[jberryhill]

"Dont companies sometimes make offers for domains just so you will accept it then use it against you @ WIPO?"

More or less, yes. What they will usually do is to say that they are interested in having the name transferred, or interested in "acquiring" the domain name, so that they can claim that you are the one who suggested selling it.

It is very similar to the way police conduct prostitution undercover operations - they will generally not initiate an express solicitation.

[domainduck]

The registration of a domain name, in and of itself, does not constitute trademark violation.

Here is a link to the WIPO arbitration web site:
http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/index.html

I will release this domain name immediately upon a WIPO decision in your favor.

[LewR]

Dingo,

Stick to your rights, and do not allow anyone to reverse hi-jack your domain name. If more people stuck to their guns when they owned truly generic names, this situation would not be occurring as it does.

If you need help or support, I am there for you.