Personal names (FirstLast.com) - issues?

[slobizman]

Are there any issues with having personal names in the form of FirstLast.com, when the person is not a celebrity? I have one on which i was just contacted by the personal who forgot to renew it. It's a common name and the person is one of a million author/speakers. Not a celebrity by any means. I'm certain there are thousands of people with this same name in the world.

I have not yet replied, and am wondering the best way to handle it. I'm certain that when people lose their personal name domains, they are pissed and don't understand the domain name market and figure you should give it back for twenty bucks.

A friend told me he sells the names for $500 - $1000 because it costs $1200 for someone to pay for a hearing on it anyway.

Seems like the best bet is to say no more than "the price is $xxx" and that is all I say, and to make sure th parking page does not relate to the field that the person's business is.

Is there anything I should be wary of?

[DNGeeks]

You could take a picture of a friend and put it up on the page and say that is his name as well and you are developing it for him. Then offer to sell the domain back for $1000 and accept an offer at $500+

[DNQuest.com]

Originally Posted by slobizman

It's a common name and the person is one of a million author/speakers.

So his name is used in commerce....

I am guessing you registered the name because it does have a value commercially. I am sure you searched it and found this to be true, otherwise, you would have not registered it.

MY personal feeling.. squatting...

And the follow up response... It is no wonder our business has a black eye and looked down upon.

[slobizman]

Actually, I did not search first. It's a such a common first and last name that I just purchased it. No other person with that name apparently wanted it at the moment.

How could buying a name that I'll bet tens of thousands of people in the world share be squatting? Which one of them am I squatting on? A search turns up tons of people in various places with this name. Does that mean that if John Doe bought JohnDoe.com that he is squatting in relation to all the other John Doe's of the world? It would with your logic. Should all the John Doe's of the world be contacted and then an auction held for the highest bidder? Or should it be awarded to the most needy as charity?

If I buy Tablemaker.com and I don't make tables, is that squatting on a name that a table maker would have liked to have? Which table maker?

Originally Posted by DNQuest.com

So his name is used in commerce....

I am guessing you registered the name because it does have a value commercially. I am sure you searched it and found this to be true, otherwise, you would have not registered it.

MY personal feeling.. squatting...

And the follow up response... It is no wonder our business has a black eye and looked down upon.

[DNQuest.com]

Originally Posted by slobizman

How could buying a name that I'll bet tens of thousands of people in the world share be squatting? Which one of them am I squatting on?

When the name is used in commerce.

[slobizman]

Originally Posted by DNQuest.com

When the name is used in commerce.

It turns out that are dozens of the same name used in various businesses. Which one gets it?

My full name has been used in commerce, but someone else owns it. But then again, there are hundreds of people with my name that are in commerce. Why would I have a right to it?

Key in any common name and try it and see for yourself. Almost any name has people who run blogs, are authors, are speakers, are successful professionals. Pick a name and try it.

I just bought the names of two lakes. Is that squatting? I'm sure the government body that owns them makes money off of them in commerce through permit fees and taxes. And guess what, even with these lake names I find there are m,ultiple ones in the U.S. alone, plus some in other English-speaking countries as well. Just like personal names.

[Doc Com]

Google it. If it is that common then there may be tens of thousands. Who has claim to it?

If it is used in commerce, then there should be a TM (something like Ralph Lauren Polo). If no TM, no problem. Even if there is a TM, just don't use it for anything similar or like the product that is TM.

As for your question: Is there anything I should be wary of?

Yeah, it is called a scam! Do you have any idea how many deleted, dropped, expired domain names I have purchased and all the song and dance and sob stories and S.O.B. stories I have gotten?

Why? Most likely because I won it or regged it as expired and someone else wants it.

And if the domain name is that common as you say it is, it may be worth many times what the person is willing to offer or what you are willing to take for it.

If you want to PM, I'll be glad to take a look. Nothing will be revealed.

[DNQuest.com]

Originally Posted by slobizman

It turns out that are dozens of the same name used in various businesses. Which one gets it?

The one that decides to defend their mark. Maybe you are missing the point here. There is no TM police who come in and grab the name and give it to the rightful owner. An alleged TM holder must go after their name, no one will do it for them. You can give all the what-ifs and we could go on for days and days. If someone can prove their name is used in commerce and can make claim it is their livelyhood and that you have none, their chances would be good.

If you want to what-if, the read the legal section, all what-ifs have been covered before.

[slobizman]

Originally Posted by DNQuest.com

The one that decides to defend their mark. Maybe you are missing the point here. There is no TM police who come in and grab the name and give it to the rightful owner. An alleged TM holder must go after their name, no one will do it for them. You can give all the what-ifs and we could go on for days and days. If someone can prove their name is used in commerce and can make claim it is their livelyhood and that you have none, their chances would be good.

If you want to what-if, the read the legal section, all what-ifs have been covered before.

There is no tm on the the name. There is product or service called by the name. There is no company called with the name. There are only people of the world, like any name that have that name, and some are in businesses that are not called by "their name". It's not like the the name is Oscar Meyer and that not only someone's name but also the brand of a Hot Dog.

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How about this one--I coincidentally also just bought a FirstLast.com for a friend of mine who will build a personal site on it. I bought it at auction for her. It's another common name and I'll bet if I looked around some of the people who use the name are most likely well-known in their fields--just the law of probability. So, is she not entitled to own it forever? Should I not have bought it for her? (I did, as always, check the TM database first).