Comments from the Lawyer that got a C&D Letter

[jmullen54@aol.com]

I'm an electrical and computer engineer from Carnegie Mellon University turned patent attorney. I'm a dork and, as such, have personally filed for patents (15+), trademarks, and own roughly 300 domains. My personal site is http://www.jeffreymullen.com.

Anyway, last week I personally received a meritless C&D letter for one of my domain names. The matter is now dead, but I was interested in seeing what was said here as I have never ventured outside the "for sale" thread. My general comment is that if you want to protect your name -- get advice from a lawyer before you do anything. It is amazing how many people just shoot themselves in the back.

As you should know, I am not allowed to give any advice to non-clients.

I am going to see if its possible for me to give a general presentation on domain name law (either via webcast or a site with a downloadable presentation). Either way, I'm sure the major trade shows have such presentations (and if they don't, they should).

[Jonathan]

A lecture would be cool.

[ParkQuick.com]

Great idea! There is some awfully bad advice given out here at times. It would be nice if you or John Berryhill were the first to reply on all therads like this - but that seldom happens. Please do post a video lecture!

In any event, I am going to check with my firm to see if its possible for me to give a video lecture on domain name law and post it to a site. I think it would help. Good idea? Bad idea?

[DNQuest.com]

That would be a great idea. But I will have to admit that many of the threads in the legal section are started by domainers who registered domains under bad faith. There are very few threads where the person has a good arguement against the TM holder. Yes, there is much bad advise around here at times and hopefully people will start to learn something.

[Focus]

yeah unfortunately or maybe fortunately for the company in the dispute, most of these domains in question lately on DNF are clear violations that do infringe on intellectual property and trademarks..like alot of mine do!

A video would rock.

Chris

[Dave Zan]

In any event, I am going to check with my firm to see if its possible for me to give a video lecture on domain name law and post it to a site. I think it would help. Good idea? Bad idea?

If it's a series of explanations without showing samples, diagrams or the lot, a
simple audio for me will do fine. But if you'll, for example, dissect a C&D letter
and point out the important details to look out for, then a video will be good.

Other than that, it's not a bad idea to post an online media lecture or 2 on all
and any laws that affect domain names. But include a disclaimer, of course.

[jmullen54@aol.com]

It would be a presentation on the state of domain name law. Something similar to what would be given at a major conference. If I did a presentation, I would go through some of the major issues that face any entity that owns a significant number of domains and hit on the big cases. Most importantly, I would probably include a number of slides as to what you should never do, risk/reward considerations, and what offensive options you may have if you receive partiuclar types of C&D letters (e.g., Declatory Judgement).

As I said before, please do not ask me for any sort of advice. I cannot give any advice to non-clients.

[jberryhill]

It would be nice if you or John Berryhill were the first to reply on all therads like this

Responding in public to specific requests for legal advice is as unethical as advertising outside of one's licensed jurisdiction.

[petertdavis]

I'd love to watch your video. A related topic I've been interested in recently is protecting the name of a website with a registered trademark. If you happen to know of any resources on that topic I'd love to see them.

[jmullen54@aol.com]

In any event, someone should make sure that these types of presentations are available at the major trade shows. I'm sure John would be willing to give a general presentation.

And, please do not email me for any advice. For example, there is even a case that held a relationship was established even when the lawyer did not give a single word of advice (the case said that he had an ethical obligation to give advice after he heard the person's situation)!

[tekz999]

Ok, lets move on and start seeing the video jmullen.

[Domagon]

A presentation in person about domain name legal issues would be good - better yet multiple attorneys, ideally specializing in various areas of law, to share their viewpoints, since there are numerous legal issues beyond trademarks alone as illustrated below:

Some seminar ideas...

Trademark issues ... definition of a TM (many people confuse copyright with TM), C&D letters, UDRP, TM registration, etc.

Sales Contracts ... the types of, enforceability (or more aptly the lack of; can't get blood from a stone), how to draft a good contract (obviously recommending an attorney to check it over), liability, etc.

Computer law ... primarily aimed towards domainers who have actual websites with content, message boards, etc; discuss liability issues.

Lastly, on a personal note ... have you personally successfully represented numerous clients involved in various domain names legal disputes? -I ask, since it appears from your webpage that you have little to no experience representing others; the prominent posting of "U.S. Trademark Pending" notices in overly large type on some of your websites, such as SimpleDate.com, suggests that registering a TM is still a big deal for you, and further suggests that you've not done many such registrations so far; have little real-world experience with domain name legal issues.

Ron

[jmullen54@aol.com]

Ron, my personal page purposefuly does not touch upon my non-personal legal experience (see John's comment). If you click through to my lawfirm you can check out my profile there (which needs some major updates). Simpledate.com is purposefully written the way it is. Any presentation would include the input from the grey hairs of the field in addition to my own comments. It doesn't phase me if John does it either.

[Domagon]

I don't see the link to your lawfirm ... and quite really, I wasn't asking for specifics, though admittedly some details would be helpful, but mainly wondering if you have much real-world legal experience in the domain name realm ...

If your intention is to maintain a low-profile / privacy, then you may want to rethink the public presentation idea, since it will put you in the spotlight - people will scrutinize you and your experiences, etc.

Ron

[jmullen54@aol.com]

When's the next trade conference?

[ParkQuick.com]

Of course that's true. You have provided some excellent general information in the past, though. I guess I didn't word that very well.

Responding in public to specific requests for legal advice is as unethical as advertising outside of one's licensed jurisdiction.

[carlton]

I am going to see if its possible for me to give a general presentation on domain name law (either via webcast or a site with a downloadable presentation).

Thanks for your willingess to share your expertise. I good many people would be very interested and appreciative. Please keep us posted.

[Honan]

When's the next trade conference?

www.targetedtraffic.com have 3 planned and domain www.roundtable.com have one planned

T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Silicon Valley 2006
Santa Clara, California
January 30th - February 1st, 2006
Santa Clara Marriott Hotel

Las Vegas 2006
(T.R.A.F.F.I.C. WEST 2006)
Las Vegas, NV
May 2-5, 2006
The Venetian Hotel

T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
Miami 2006
Eden Roc Hotel
Miami Beach, Florida USA
October 2006


The Domain Roundtable Conference www.domainroundtable.com
Dates: April 19-21, 2006
Location: Bellevue, Washington

[jmullen54@aol.com]

Thanks Joe! Exactly the type of information I needed. If these conferences are open to receiving webcasts/video feeds, we can probably do a presentation at each one. I'll contact the conference managers.

[WhoDatDog]

If you read 250 or so UDRP cases fromn start to finish you will be in the top one percent as far as knowledge goes. It starts right there. You can see how the actions of the domain holder affect the decisions in most cases. You can be an expert if you go to the source. Asking a bunch of people on a message board lends to extreme comments....usually from those who are afraid to register any names that coud POSSIBLY infringe, all the way down to those who recommend reckless behavior. The truth is somewhere in the middle and it starts with reading the cases that have been decided and then staying current.