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My business was Incorporated as an "s corp" in Nov 2003. My business name is (fictitious name) Joe blows inc. Now I want to buy the name joeblows.com but it is already taken. I look at the whois and it was registered in Dec 2003.. Do I have any legal right to this name?
I have not contacted the owner yet but I want to be able to know if I have a right to request it since I was incorporated before they registered it.
thanks
Robert
~~~~~~~~~~
That's me with a wavering answer.............. You and others can be incorporated in a number of states with the same "Joe Blowes Inc." business name. So rights to the domain rarely lies with an incorporated "entity".
Where the power comes in is with "registered" trademark. Do you have one?
If yes, then you can ask for it back and if needed file a Domain Dispute with ICANN. All .com fall under this policy.
http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm
If you don't have a registered trademark, you may still own the trademark to your business name through its official use but this is more difficult to enforce and can be costly.
Other questions:
Is the domain being used for personal or business use?
How established is the website?
Are they running a profitable business from it? (Good luck)
I am not a lawyer and my experince lets me know that many lawyers know only a little in this area. I have worked through these types of issues with clients in the past.
~H
~Hamerz
Internet Marketing - St. Louis MO || www.ixst.com - For Sale
in-line
Well the name is not really that great but I want it and I am going to make a decent offer to buy but I know from past experiences that all of a sudden a $500 domain will be worth $50k to the seller. I thought if i had some legal backing he would take the $$ and run..Originally Posted by hamerz
thanks for the input.
Moved to Legal Issues.
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Without more, no. Whether there are more facts here that would change the answer is an open question.I want to be able to know if I have a right to request it since I was incorporated before they registered it.
Mere incorporation under a trade name does not confer trade or service mark rights. If you had been using the term in commerce as a trade or service mark in association with particular goods or services, and particularly if there is reason to believe that the domain name registrant was motivated by knowledge of those trade or service mark rights, then the question bears further investigation.
John Berryhill Ph.d., esq.
John-AT-johnberryhill.com
Please do not send private messages via dnforum.com, email me directly.
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