fluke

[tassos]

i got a letter from a greek lawyer asking me in 5 days to give the domain fluke dot biz to the company fluke dot com ...what do you think?
isn t it a common word?

[draqon]

yes, you have no need to give it up.

Send him an email saying that according to ICANN regulations, common words are "legitimately registered on a first-come, first-served basis" and that Fluke is a common word in the English language. Also inform him that you are prepared to hire the best intellectual property lawyers available if he should decide to unfairly initiate a UDRP proceeding.

Of course, if you offered the domain for sale to him at any point in time, ignore my advice and just turn the domain over to him.

[tassos]

i never offered the domain for sale ...to anyone..
is this a matter of greek courts? or US ?
the letter comes from a lawyer that represents Fluke Corporation Everett Washington

[jberryhill]

"isn't it a common word?"

Yes, fluke is a common word. It is also the name of one of the largest manufacturers of electronic test equipment in the US.

.biz is a chartered TLD in which a material term of the registration contract does not permit domain name speculation, and requires domain names to be registered for a bona fide commercial use. Whether "fluke" is a common word has nothing to do with whether the domain name was registered and used in accordance with the .biz charter restrictions.

[jberryhill]

"is this a matter of greek courts? or US ?"

Well, let's see...

The registrar is in the US, the website is hosted in the US, the PPC revenue comes from the US, and the PPC advertisers are in the US.

I wonder what possible connection someone would make between the domain name and the US.

[seeker]

most (=all)TLDs are based in the US.

Most (other than 1 exception that I can think of, that happens to be an exceptional company) PPC companies are based in the US.

The VAST majority of English language PPC keywords are generated from US/UK based surfers...

Now. let's see...

Does Tassos have a problem?
Probably, since apparently fluke is a US based company.
Can they do much about it?
Other than *eventually* and *maybe* taking the domain, I sincerely doubt they can do much. (and I am not qualified to get into all the legal terms about using the site in 'good faith' or not.
However, please keep in mind that I am NOT a lawyer, and simply expressing my opinion and to a certain extent the *experience* from being a non US based person/company registering names, including dictionary related ones.

"xestous."

[seeker]

BTW, If you want a local lawyer who deals whith such isses, PM me.

Let Fluke and co go searching...

Tip:

'Fluke' is ok under EU TM law, so for about 300 euro to cover the entire Union, you can have it TM'ed tomorow...

act fast

[Acro]

Fluke Corp seems to be international, including having sales reps in Greece. The fact that they hired a lawyer local to you seems they are determined to get the domain.

Ult Search has the .org, the .net is a personal site, .info is on sale for $1,500 and .us is parked at Enom. Seems that they are after the .biz for purely market purposes (.biz = bizness)

[jberryhill]

"they are after the .biz for purely market purposes"

Relative to the other TLD's .biz has a somewhat different charter, which makes the "common word" point weaker than in other TLD's. That was my only point above.

The PPC links at fluke.biz, however, appear to relate primarily to accidents, injuries, illnesses, and other events which bear a semantic relationship to the common meaning of the word "fluke".

[tassos]

thank you all
i decided to keep it and find a lawyer

[dax]

1. Check if they have Registered trademark for the word "fluke" in your country. If not:
"The existence of a foreign trademark does not put a domain registrant on notice where the registrant resides in a country other than where the trademark is registered as other WIPO cases show e.g. VZ VermögensZentrum AG v. Anything.com, WIPO Case No. D2000-0527 (Cayman Islands respondent would not have knowledge of Swiss and German trademarks); Koninklijke KPN v. Telepath, Inc., WIPO Case No. D2001-0217, (U.S. registrant could not "reasonably have been expected to know about the complainant or its Benelux trademark."); Deutsche Lufthansa SA v. Greenwald, WIPO Case No. D2001-1456, (German trademark not "so well-known in the United States."); Etam, plc v. Alberta Hot Rods, WIPO Case No. D2000-0016 (German trademark and U.S. respondent)."

2. Also check if that trademark is registered (if exists) before or later your domain was registered, since trademark registration must predate domain registration.

3. And also check for this UDRP cases:
"Neither mere registration, nor general offers to sell, domain names which consist of generic, common, or descriptive terms can be considered acts of bad faith. Shirmax Retail Ltd./Detaillants Shirmax Ltee v. CES Marketing Group, Inc., ICANN Case No. AF-0104; Allocation Network GmbH v. Steve Gregory, ICANN Case No. D2000-0016."