Someone has registered my sisters company domain

**Namefox** · 09-14-2011, 06:47 AM

My sister runs a very successful TV production company of which she runs her site on a .tv domain. Her company name is "company name" Productions and some "person" has registered "companyname"productions.com. Whois is protected of course. While her company name isn't trademarked, she has been in business for over 12 years. What is the recourse and how do I contact this person who is cybersquatting?

**DomainsInc** · 09-14-2011, 07:33 AM

is she the only person to use 'company name'? if so, i think nothing. people seem to think they own words when they put them together like big hat productions. "big hat" is so generic.

**CureCancer** · 09-14-2011, 07:43 AM

If it's not trademarked your out of luck. Tm also is only good in the country it's registered. I also have a friend who owns company+films. And others have registered it in net org tv etc. It's her fault for not locking the dot com to begin with.

**Namefox** · 09-14-2011, 08:32 AM

Thanks guys...that's kind of what I thought. I had told her to register it but she didn't think it important.

**randomo** · 09-14-2011, 08:43 AM

When you call the person who registered the .com of her company name an "idiot", you are also insulting many members here, who feel it is good business to look up company names and register the available .com's. (I am not among them.) In fact, the one who's using your sister's company .com may well be a DNFer.

**Namefox** · 09-14-2011, 08:53 AM

I certainly am not trying to offend but am firm on my belief that registering a domain of a company that is in operation is wrong...period. While idiot is a strong word for sure (I'll edit that out), this person would be garnering web traffic from a business that took many years to develop.

**randomo** · 09-14-2011, 09:11 AM

Oh, don't get me wrong - I concur with your view of people who register domains of other people's companies. But I see you have changed "idiot" to "person" - that also sounds accurate.

P.S. It's a shame that someone with a "very successful" company couldn't be persuaded to spend less than $100 to lock up its .com for 10 years. A lesson to be learned by any businessperson.

**500,000** · 09-14-2011, 09:22 AM

While idiot is a strong word for sure (I'll edit that out),

How can you edit postings in this topic, but I can not?

**randomo** · 09-14-2011, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by 500,000

How can you edit postings in this topic, but I can not?

You can only edit your own posts. I don't see any other posts from you in this topic.

**eeedc** · 09-14-2011, 09:37 AM

It depends on how unique the name is. "Big Productions" is much more open to multiple legal uses than "Obama Productions"

If she was not willing to pay the $100 to own and redirect the dot com to a dot TV for ten years, I doubt she is going to spend $1,000 plus to hire a lawyer even if she has a good case.

**CureCancer** · 09-14-2011, 11:52 AM

I filed a trademark a month ago and made sure the . Com was available. On top of the . Com I also regged all the other top extensions and .co

This is the best method of investment to protect your company/name.

Your total investment to register all top extensions is under $300

**katherine** · 09-14-2011, 12:50 PM

It depends on the domain, and a number of factors like whether the other party knew or should have known about your sister's venture.
If their intention was to capitalize on your name or steal traffic from you, you may have a case. If on the other hand your sister's business has zero notoriety it's harder to claim TM violation.

**Mike Cruz** · 09-14-2011, 04:40 PM

Not to be offending at all, but if it wasn't important enough for her to register it when you told her to, why is it now? Just because someone else owns it?

**eeedc** · 09-15-2011, 09:22 AM

Looking on the bright side, it's not as good as owning the dot-com yourself, but having an "idiot" speculator put up a parking page is better than haveing a real competitor there. If a real competitor is there, the owners of the dot-net, dot-tv and other will lose a good percentage of their traffic to people who "mistakenly" type in the dot com. With just a parking page or nothing there, most people will realize their mistake and type in the dot-net or dot-tv.

**urlurl** · 09-15-2011, 11:32 PM

wait it out - they will most likely drop it after a year or so (unless it gets a huge volume of traffic) and then buy it.

**Tim Schoon** · 09-18-2011, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by urlurl

wait it out - they will most likely drop it after a year or so (unless it gets a huge volume of traffic) and then buy it.

True, as they have whois protection they're probably not taking the risk of offering their 'squatted' names for sale. Unless it would make any revenue it should be available again in a year time.

**draggar** · 09-18-2011, 05:00 PM

Originally Posted by CureCancer

If it's not trademarked your out of luck. Tm also is only good in the country it's registered. I also have a friend who owns company+films. And others have registered it in net org tv etc. It's her fault for not locking the dot com to begin with.

She may have a case if she can prove that her name is well enough known and that the registration was in bad faith, no TM needed.

Originally Posted by Namefox

I certainly am not trying to offend but am firm on my belief that registering a domain of a company that is in operation is wrong...period. While idiot is a strong word for sure (I'll edit that out), this person would be garnering web traffic from a business that took many years to develop.

Unfortunately unethical is not illegal. :(

**Acidztrip** · 09-18-2011, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by draggar

Unfortunately unethical is not illegal. :(

That was proven in last night's fight, "protect yourself at all times"!!

**Vincent** · 09-18-2011, 11:47 PM

Haha! Mayweather does the right thing. I don't like him personally, but last night I give him credit. I like what he did to Ortiz, the dirty player.

**marcorandazza** · 09-23-2011, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by Namefox

My sister runs a very successful TV production company of which she runs her site on a .tv domain. Her company name is "company name" Productions and some "person" has registered "companyname"productions.com. Whois is protected of course. While her company name isn't trademarked, she has been in business for over 12 years. What is the recourse and how do I contact this person who is cybersquatting?

I disagree with the opinions above on this. If your sister has a common law trademark, she might have recourse. You can win a UDRP or an ACPA based on a common law mark. If her company name is distinctive and protectable, there certainly is something she can do about it.