I have recieved the following email. It has recently come to our attention that you have registered the domain name paypalaccepted.net , which contains the famous PayPal name and trademark, but are not currently operating a web site under that domain name. We are concerned that you may intend to use this domain name to violate PayPal's trademark rights, and warn you not to do so. As you must know, PayPal, an eBay company, is the world's leading provider of online payment services. PayPal has used the name and trademark "PayPal" since 1999 and it is now one of the most famous brands in the world. PayPal enjoys broad trademark rights, which are protected in many countries around the world. Use of your domain name may infringe and/or dilute the famous PayPal trademark. Infringement occurs when a third party's use of a company's trademark (or a similar variation) is likely to confuse consumers as to the affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement of the third party's services. Trademark dilution occurs when a third party's use of a variation of a company's trademark is likely to lessen the distinctiveness of the company's famous trademark. U.S. federal and state laws, including the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act provides for serious penalties (up to $100,000) against persons who, without authorization, use, sell, or offer for sale a domain name that infringes or dilutes another's trademark. Infringers who have been notified that their use is infringing, but do not cease, may also be considered "willful" and could be subject to additional money damages and liability for attorney's fees. Having received this email, you are on such notice. While PayPal respects your right of expression and your desire to conduct business on the World Wide Web, PayPal must enforce its own rights in order to protect its valuable and famous name. We appreciate that you may have registered paypal*******.net without full knowledge of the law in this area. However, any use of the domain name (or attempt to transfer the domain name to a third party) in the e-commerce field would likely violate PayPal's trademark rights, and require PayPal to pursue all available remedies against you. Please reply to this email and confirm that you will comply as requested. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. Sincerely, Edith eBay Legal Department What are my options? I noticed that paypalsucks.com is still alive so how did they handle this?
Talk to your lawyers. If you have a huge legal budget, you can fight Paypal out in court but if you do not have and since you are clearly infringing on Paypal trademark, it would be wiser to just give it up. However, if you intended to use the domain name to host a site which have totally nothing remotely related to Paypal, just tell them so.
Unfortunately that's not possible when it comes to unique and famous marks. PayPal is so unique and famous throughout the planet it's nearly impossible for someone not to think the OP's domain name is not associated with PayPal. If the OP put up a non-commercial site, then s/he might stand a chance. But as you're aware, and if the OP is indeed based in the U.K., PayPal can always take legal action if necessary. Frankly I'm rather wondering why PayPal hasn't decided to take action against PayPaylsucks, even though that site has at least one thing against them that can work in PayPal's favor. I guess they don't find it worthwhile for now. And to the OP: there's bound to be others telling you to fight them and all. Be aware of the potential consequences that PayPal can take action, and those who even remotely and stupidly suggest they can't sue you do not know one iota about these things. But if you want to listen to them for the sake of being popular, then it's up to you. It's your behind, after all.
Just do a search in google for "paypal poker" , "paypal casino" ect ect I actually owned 2 domains with the word paypal in for over a year and had no trouble but since I registered this one I got the email above!
It seems obvious to me from the names that you've registered that you're either planning to use these sites for commercial purposes and benefit from the Paypal name or that you're sitting on the sites hoping that Paypal is going to pay for them. Either way, it's not going to work out for you. It's a violation of trademark law and/or cybersquattin statutes. I'm going to save you a lot of money. You could try to fight, but you're going to lose. Give up and turn the domain name over if they want it. In the future, don't register domain names with famous marks in them. As to you question about why paypalsucks.com is still in existence, it's because there's an exception to trademark law that allows for the use of a trademarked term for a non commercial satire or parody (or critique) of the brand or product. Hope that answers the question for you. Deena Burgess, Esq. ________________________________________________________________________________-- Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.
That's pretty much what I was thinking. Since the OP has not developed the site yet, the financial loss would be minimal if he just surrender the domain name to paypal. Challenge them and you would have hell to pay.
well theres no way i am handing the domain over even if I do have to use it for non commercial purposes. Paypal sucks do make money from the website so Im still confused about the whole thing
The site may be hosted in China but you are still from the UK and you are still the owner of the domain name so they can still touch you. Depending on the terms of your domain name registrar, they may be compelled to revert the domain name to Paypal as this is a trademark dispute. Since you are not willing to take the easy and cheaper option out and what to keep the domain names, be prepared for a long and expensive legal battle with paypal. Good Luck.
Even if my site will be promoting paypal and sending refferals to paypal, I am still going to have problems?
Yes, it would certainly be because you used the trademark term 'Paypal' in your domain name. I would think as far as your other websites are concerned, it probably would just be a matter of time before you get the same warning as you got today.
"sucks" type of sites are protected as free-speech because a consumer isn't likely to assume that the TM holder is operating a site with that name. Just because you think there are other sites that are infringing upon their trademark, it doesn't not give you the right to do so also. ebay is very aggressive in protecting their marks and there are cases where parties have spent large sums of money in a legal defense only to lose in the end (perfumebay). They may not go after you if you do not attempt to use the domain, however, they could still bring a case for cybersquatting. Your best bet is really to let the domain expire or turn it over to them if requested. Whatever you decide, do not attempt to sell the domain to ebay.
Im still feeling a little bit stubborn as I have seen hundreds of other domains with the paypal trademark in them, I think the domain is too good to just hand over and I dont want to sell it. I had the same email when I registered paypal-poker.org I ignored the email and nothing has happened, So I am thinking this email is just a scare tactic because none of the other paypal poker , casino or any other paypal domains I have been watching over the last year have been taken down. Thanks for answering my questions on why paypal-sucks is still alive. I am hoping that there are too many domains for paypal to chase up and the email is all they will do. Im still not going to risk it though, I do live in the uk so it would be very easy for them to prosecute me although I dont live at the listed address on the whois data.
Make a free-speech site I suppose if you don't want to loose..lol.. Or else just surrender the domain~~
No, it's not that simple. You own the right to the name as it applies to your business. This is to protect others from trying to take advantage of your name. Apple is a trademark, but you could have a domain with apple in it as long as it didn't have anything to do with computers or music (or any other protected usage). As pointed out, the more "unique and famous" the mark, the more broad protection they have.... i.e. a domain with microsoft or Xerox in it is going to have a lot more protection than one with a generic word like "apple".
This thread will make nice evidence of your bad faith if they decide to sue you. Now anyone who searches for paypalaccepted.net will easily find this thread and the other violating names you own. Nice work. http://www.google.com/search?q=paypalaccepted.net