What's the best way of advertising trade marked domains.

[DomainPairs]

Suppose that I owned MGMfilms.com (which I don't), and I wanted to sell it undeveloped. What would be the best way to advertise it without creating legal problems?

 

[system0]

personally id stay away from this market but i suppose foru8ms like this would be a good start

 

[DomainPairs]

I like dipping into high risk markets now and again. I even tried cocoa options for a while.

The important thing seems to be to understand the risks and not annoy the big players.

 

[Mizzoula]

I would think the best line of offense to marketing a domain that is a trademark is taking the first step in defense by not soliciting them at all. Offering something of that nature constitutes grounds of bad faith and only labels you a cybersquatter. Out of curiosity, have you ever been successful in selling a domain that has a trademark?

 

[Anthony Ng]

Actually, registering a knowingly trademarked domain is itself of bad faith and falls squarely into what cybersquatting should really mean.

Of course, if you are an anti-rights (copyrights, trademarks, whatever rights) activist, then there wouldn't be any ethical or moral issue here. I just don't understand why people would take that risk for just a few hundred bucks at the most. The math just doesn't add up!

Edit: I left out the word "don't" in the second last sentence.

 

[DomainPairs]

It's the risk and the intellectual challenge.

Why do people race powerboats or do crossword puzzles.

No - I haven't sold any trademarked domains, but I have bought a few for the sport. I'm not anti-trademarks, the law or capitalism. I don't want to attack or diminish the trade mark owners - quite the reverse in fact, as the stronger they are, the more valuable the name is.

What I wanted to do was to underpin the potential loss and look at the way to sell the product (the name).

 

[Anthony Ng]

Just edited my earlier post: I left out the word "don't" in the second last sentence.

 

[izoot]

"It's the risk and the intellectual challenge"

Ok I get the risk part...where does it become intellectually challenging?

 

[DomainPairs]

By creating an environment/situation that allows you to keep and sell the domain, and even to advertise it if possible. I think I may have set up a site to do this, and when the DNS pointers resolve I'll post a link.

 

[Jack Gordon]

I once owned houstonchronicle.net & houstonchronicle.org

It was a miserable experience. I tried contacting the paper to gauge their interest, and they strung me along for a while and then stopped talking to me. Every moment I was sure they were talking nice to me while preparing legal action in the background. When they finally expired I was thrilled to let them go. It wasn't worth the stress.

My lesson? I have no business reg'ing houstonchronicle.anything, and had they taken action I would have had no good defense.

There are pplenty of ways to have fun in this biz without stepping on somebody else's clearly defined toes.

 

[GiantDomains]

How do you compare racing powerboats, and stealing somebody's rightful name.

One is an athlete, and the other is a criminal.

Squatters give all domainers a bad name.

 

[DomainPairs]

There are always mutiple ways to look at anything. One could say racing powerboats is criminal as it is destructive to the environment.

I don't steal names - that is a different industry.

Why do you think it is wrong to use mgmfilms.com to sell MGM films? Please explain the difference morally between registering mgmfilms.com and cars.com, if I am buying both for resale?

 

[izoot]

"Please explain the difference morally between registering mgmfilms.com and cars.com, if I am buying both for resale?"

Thats a easy question to answer..... Cars.com is a generic and MGMfilms.com is basing its value and usage on MGM's TM'd name. Not even remotely the same.

The argument could be made that there is nothing wrong with using mgmfilms.com to sell MGM films....BUT the fact remains that it is NOT a generic (MGM) term that anyone has the freedom to use without permission, being that MGM is TM'd.

So whether you get contacted by MGM or not...rationalize it anyway you want, it is cybersquatting. You are capitalizing on a tradmarked name that was regged specifically for that purpose. What else could MGMFilms stand for and have any value or use?

 

[DomainPairs]

A name is a name, if you buy it with a view to selling it to someone else it is cybersquatting even if it is cars.com. The difference between that and a trademarked name, is that there is no one that can lay claim to exclusive use of such a word.

What about Olympics - first used by the Greeks and claimed by a modern organisation - why should they have exclusive use of it?

I grew up with a guy called John Ford - why should Ford cars have exclusive use of his surname?

As a final point - why should I not be allowed to have a site called MGM films to sell MGM films?

 

[jberryhill]

I'll take question 2, for 10 dnforum bucks, Alex...

"I grew up with a guy called John Ford - why should Ford cars have exclusive use of his surname?"

They don't have exclusive use of his surname. They have exclusive use of the mark "Ford" in connection with their goods and services. Nobody hassles the Betty Ford clinic, or the Ford modeling agency, about their use of the term. But the auto company isn't treating alcoholics (other than providing them with air bags)

There is not, however, a presumptive right to use your personal name as a trademark if there is a senior user in the relevant field of goods or services.

For an example of this principle, you might check the federal court decision relating to the domain name fordfinancialservices.com. It was owned by a person named Ford who was in the financial services business. However, the auto company also provides finance services. Guess who won?

 

[Mizzoula]

Originally posted by jberryhill
I'll take question 2, for 10 dnforum bucks, Alex...

LMAO

"I grew up with a guy called John Ford - why should Ford cars have exclusive use of his surname?"

I wonder if there Ford Motor Company has ever tried to go after www.HenryFord.com? Has anyone ever visited that site?

 

[DomainPairs]

The Henry Ford hospital was founded by Henry Ford himself, I believe.

 

[Mizzoula]

That's what I was thinking, but I wasn't sure.

 

[HOWARD]

I'll take question # 3 for 20 DNForum bucks.

If you had a trademark for a product that was very unique and extremely valuable, you wouldn't want someone else who had absolutely no investment in that unique product to capitalize on using your trademark to sell your product.

That's exactly what happens when you use MGMFILMS.COM to sell MGM Films. That's why you will be faced with a UDRP action, or, better yet, an ACPA action to recover your profits from the use of their trademark.

That's also why it's not the same for CARS.COM or even OLYMPICS.COM to some extent. However, the USOC guards the Trademark OLYMPICS very strenuously.

 

[mole]

Moral of the story - Always seek legal counsel when in doubt.