Need a Professional Legal Advice regarding my domain name.

Discussion in 'Legal Issues' started by Digitalman, Apr 24, 2009.

  1. #1
    Hello ,

    I recently purchased a domain LL.net for reselling purpose. I offered that domain to a company with same letters but with different extension , In reply they served me a Legal Notice stating that we are a registered company with this name and your domain is confusing our users , So tranfer the ownership of this domain to us other wise we will contact ICANN on this matter.

    Looking forward for a reliable legal advice.

    Thanks.
     
    Digitalman, Apr 24, 2009 IP
  2. mjewel

    mjewel Prominent Member

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    #2
    You should contact John Berryhill or Ari Goldberger - arguably the top two domain attorneys in the country. As you probably now know, offering to sell a domain to a trademark holder is something you should never do (bad faith) and a legal battle can easily run six figures or more if they go to court. If it is a deep pocket company, you can lose by just not having the resources to fight.
     
    mjewel, Apr 25, 2009 IP
  3. campolar

    campolar Peon

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    #3
    LL.net means 2 letters, those 2 letters can stand for ANYTHING, example there is a company ab.com and it is a publishing company called American Books, and you buy ab.net and you can have it as a brand name, say "Angry Bob" :p THESE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES!!!

    Just dont start any site familiar with theirs, and make sure it matches NOTHING! You'll be safe and they have no way to sue u. Just like the owner of SEO.com tried to make SEO a trademark, but NO its a common term. So LL are 2 english alphabets...

    You win without a lawyer :p
     
    campolar, Apr 27, 2009 IP
  4. UncleBS

    UncleBS Guest

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    #4
    He has FAR less ground to stand on because he approached them with an offer to sell..
     
    UncleBS, Apr 27, 2009 IP
  5. mjewel

    mjewel Prominent Member

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    #5
    Wrong. Without an attorney, you WILL lose. You can start by researching these two cases.

    Hewlett-Packard Company v. Kim Yong Hwan

    Deutsche Lufthansa AG v. Future Media Architects, Inc
     
    mjewel, Apr 27, 2009 IP
  6. RobinHere

    RobinHere Peon

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    #6
    well, here are some lawyers which deals with domains., u can seek their advice...

    John Berryhill www. johnberryhill.com
    Robert Cumbow www. grahamdunn.com
    Brett Fausett www. cckllp.com
    Ari Goldberger www. esqwire.com
    Zak Muscovitch (Canada) www. DNattorney.com

    good luck to you, dont take tension.
     
    RobinHere, Apr 28, 2009 IP
  7. tobycoke

    tobycoke Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Ouch. I bet that recently purchased LL.net didn't come cheap and now you risk losing it.
     
    tobycoke, Apr 28, 2009 IP
  8. JohnUK

    JohnUK Peon

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    #8
    If they have it trademarked then by offering to sell the domain to them you forced them to act because a company has to defend there own trademarks and if they fail to do so they can lose the right of the trademark.

    If its just their companies name and they now want it I would avoid taking action and just delay...theyre not going to take you to court over a $15 domain name.

    Its good that you have a site there though at least you will have something to defend. You should offer to sell the domain to other similar sites so that you can say you didnt just target them.

    Finally the last thing you can do is legally change your name to "LL" :) It will help you. I heard about someone doing that in a dispute with a domain name before. He now has a fast food company as his name hahaha

    Good luck,

    John
     
    JohnUK, Apr 28, 2009 IP
  9. browntwn

    browntwn Illustrious Member

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    #9
    All of this "advice" should be ignored.
     
    browntwn, Apr 28, 2009 IP
  10. JohnUK

    JohnUK Peon

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    #10
    JohnUK, Apr 28, 2009 IP
  11. browntwn

    browntwn Illustrious Member

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    #11
    The legal section is for legal issues. Perhaps you should keep your humor posts in Gen Chat or some other section.

    All of this should be ignored:

     
    browntwn, Apr 28, 2009 IP
  12. Belier

    Belier Peon

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    #12
    The laws are the laws, no? =). Maybe the best thing to do if you cant affort a lawyer (and think that you can win), is just give away the domain... or maybe transfer it to another person?
     
    Belier, Apr 29, 2009 IP
  13. Dave Zan

    Dave Zan Well-Known Member

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    #13
    If the other person is within the trademark holder's reach, that person might
    also be held liable.
     
    Dave Zan, Apr 30, 2009 IP
  14. LifeGurus

    LifeGurus Peon

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    #14
    This is one of those times you really should contact a lawyer. There's a good chance they won't do anything else, but you never want to take the chance. If it comes down to it, try to figure out what's worth more: the domain or a costly court battle.
     
    LifeGurus, May 1, 2009 IP