C&D for AutoAgent.com

[HLK]

After almost one year of me owning AutoAgent.com, Stoneage Corporation sends me a C&D.

They claim "common law rights" to the term "Auto Agent"
because they offered a servce by that name in the past.

The truth is that they can't stand the fact that they
let their registration lapse so they want it trasferred to them.

Meanwhile, I have developed the site and have big plans for it.

Stoneage is resorting to this is very sad indeed.

They do not have a trademark on it and while they don't have
a lot to stand on legally, I hate dealing with this stuff.

As someone once told me "you have to have thick skin to be in this biz".

You sure do...

[Sheva]

Hi, just ignore that email.

[Silverwire]

Just forward the e-mail to your LegalAgent(tm).

[conkermaniac]

Hi,

Yeah, I agree. It's a total pain, but you might be able to make some money if they file a lawsuit, since the seem to have no ground on which to sue.

I would just ignore it, and if they persist, you should forward it to your agent/lawyer/etc.

[HOWARD]

I disagree. Ignoring it will not make it go away. I would recommend that you have legal counsel respond that you have developed the domain into a working web site and that you have no intention of transfering it or selling it to them. That leaves you in a much stronger position if they DO bring an action against you.

[LawyerSturgeon]

It is better to reply to C&D letters instead of ignoring them. UDRP decisions have held that a reply is helpful in establishing a claim of legitimacy. Here is a quote from a decision that I won regarding Chantellebra.com:

It is not enough blithely to say that he did not need to reply.
A timely and reasoned reply to a ‘cease and desist’ letter is
always helpful in establishing a defence of legitimacy.

Hope this helps

Stephen H. Sturgeon, Esquire
DomainEsq.com

[pljones]

The name is generic for an "agent for auto sales." You should respond, but explain that the word is commonly used by many parties, including you, and you have rights and legitimate interests in the name. If you do a Google search, you'll see about 2,000 sites containing "Auto Agent." There are also a large number of domain names containing "Auto Agent." StoneAge registered AutoAgent.biz, but has not developed a site. A German owns AutoAgent.info and AutoAgent.net, .org and .us are available for anyone to register.

StoneAge can threaten, but they can't hope to win a UDRP against you if they can't satisfy all three parts. They dropped the name, have no trademark registration, you registered it and are making a legitimate use. It seems clear they've got no case against you. Send them a strong response, but you should have an attorney review it or assist with the prep before you send it. Sometimes a strong response in cases like this can make the problem go away.