Hi, I need you wise advice, and thanks in advance. I have recently recieve a complaint from a big company to the National Arbitration Forum that my domain name was "identical or somewhat confusingly identical" to their trademark. I have checked - I register the domain name one month before they successfully filed is as a trademark in US and Australia. My website is purely informational but with google ads which lead to other company that provides similiar services, which they have branded me as their "competitor" . There was not copyright issue as all content and pictures were unique. Please help as I don't have money to hire any legal right to assist me and I do not want to lose this website as I have worked hard for it - has PR and contantly increasing traffic each day.
I'm not an expert with this type of case, but to my knowledge you're unlikely to win in cases like this. Especially without legal help, your best bet might be to give up the site before you end up being sued. Again, I'm not a lawyer so don't take this as legal advice, but I've almost never heard of these types of things coming out in favor of the "little guy". Sorry
Without money to hire an IP lawyer to defend your use of the domain, regardless of the merits, what chance do you have? Besides, at least in the U.S., someone doesn't have to register a trademark to get rights, they merely have to use the trademark in a way that gives them superior rights to any rights you have. That is not often easy to determine and takes both time and expertise to draw any conclusions.
hmmm..sorry to know this. I have zero knowledge on domain dispute but I can share a link which can throw some light. chillingeffects.org/domain/faq.cgi check this.
What if you wait untill you get a lawyers letter then transfer the domain to a mates name and say you no longer own it then rinse and repeat every time this company comes after the domain.
lol... i like that idea. Will try it myself next time. Another idea is to remove anything that will make you into a 'competitor' from the site (such as adsense) and they have one less argumnent against you.
If you registered it one month before they went legit then you may have a good case.. However, a long and costly battle may ensue... You could either ignore them (as most people bluff about taking you to court, especially anything to do with online, it's rare) or give in, change the domain name but repoint the old one with a 301...
From what I have read around, if you registered it before they registered their Trademark, you have a chance to keep your domain. However, you can simply ask them for a decent amount of money for it. Well, you may try offensive with them, stating that you have registered the domain before they acquired the trademark and tell them that they can't win such a case otherwise you would have acquired any domain you want yourself by trademarking it. It's not easy, it's really a complicated stuff. I am not a lawyer, I am just giving some suggestions, which you use at your own risk. If you are unsure, you best bet is find a local lawyer.
I would be cautious taking any legal advice from webmasters. You should really find a way and consult with a lawyer regarding the case and what are your chances to win. But before you even do that, ask yourself is it worth to get into all that for that website? Does it generate that much revenue to justify defending it in court? Just as someone said, it could be a bluff or could not be. Try to find more informations on internet regarding the timing when the domain was registered vs when the trademark was registered. See any similar cases and how they ended up and you might just get an idea on how to respond to that email or what to do next. But still, find a way to consult a lawyer.
I would agree with the above two replies. You gotta ask some lawyer and to the best of my knowledge, since you had it before they registered it as a trademark, you should not face any problem. But still try getting some help from a knowledgeable person.
I think there is only 1% of chances to win this case in your favour,better to move new domain and redirect your current domain to new one..so your user notify about new domain.
I would suggest to them that you would like to avoid legal fees and a lengthy dispute which would bring negative reactions to both parties. I would suggest they buy the domain from you on a fixed price agreed between you.