I sometimes wonder why some people say one can't sue. There are gazillions of cases where people did sue, even if they don't have valid grounds. Some succeeded, others didn't. But no one can say for sure one can't sue. FYI, eBay sued Perfume Bay for trademark infringement. The last decision had indicated eBay won. (And no, eBay didn't win merely because of the domain name. Just search for its decision at the CA court website if one cares to know the full facts of it.) And depending on your jurisdiction, you might or might not have a case to sue someone for having a similar business name just by one letter or word. That's where a lawyer comes in.
They are abusing there trademark rights. Theyre acting like some kind of rogue cop, dont listen to them, theyre not worth enough money to sue you up your ass.
You would have nothing to worry about if you lived outside the USA. The laws don't seem to matter outside the continent of USA.
Dude your right about that, for some ignorant reason, and I'm not putting us fellow Americans down, since I am a US citizen myself, however most people don't respect INTERNATIONAL treaties, they seem to link U.S laws apply all around the world, which is very, very ignorant.
Maybe not. But the OP seems to be in the U.S., and your registrar's contract states that trademark disputes can be resolved through the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Bare minimum, one can lose their .com domain name in that process no matter where they live. But they don't pay any kind of "court" fees for losing. One can find that bullshit. But...we all agree to them nonetheless, even if we don't personally agree with it.
I do not consider fair to give to them the domain for free, they must pay the price for it the sum that you paid to register it, is not a donation. From my point of view is blackmail, to obtain something for free threatening with a process.
sounds like a cheap company to me. like they can\t afford 20 bucks, or what every it costs a company? from what i can see, they are trying to " steal" your traffic u have built.
I've had 2 domains taken away from me like this. Tell him to piss off. It will cost him $5k to file a UDRP complaint to get the domain from you, which he most likely won't if he scoffed at $2k.
sounds like the company actually has to spend some $$ . why didnt they buy it in the first place from a hosting company?
Can you afford to defensively register any and all variations of your domains, as Brad and Angelina did? Then again, not everyone can or has to.
Eek. Seems like not only are domains getting more scarce but available words (and variations) in the American dictionary are being harder to find without being tm'd all over. For example, "many" of the good tiny variations have been forever "reserved" by companies. For example Energi for a energy company and Esurance for an insurance company. In a way, regging a good brandable domain that is not being used commercially is like claiming a reserve for yourself without paying for the legal services of registered trademark.
Its one thing when he sues you for a domain, But when they starting saying something about harming my family. That guy is gone. That guy is taking it far.
Thank you for everyones help so far. Yea these people are just really upsetting me.. I haven't had anytime to deal with them latley.. But Mr. Dan Glassman the so called starter of this has been making threats.
I had a buddy whos a lawyer try to get a hold of him. This lawyer actually did a very big case years ago.. it was big in the news his name was mentioned on cnn.
IANAL. The situation is simple. He wants your domain and thinks that threats will get the price for the domain down. The best move is to hire an attorney to negotiate a deal. When he realizes that he is dealing with someone who has the resources to go on defense, then you'll get a deal. Until then, expect more bullying and maybe even a lawsuit to put the pressure on you. Also beware of ICANN complaint resolution letters. Make sure you respond to them or you can lose your domain if the crossfit guy is willing to spend the bucks on it.
He is trying to scam you. IF you had a site that dealt SPECIFICALLY with the EXACT industry section they deal with, they might have a case. Look which section they have their Trademark registered in. It is probably just one single section NOT all sections - that would cost them tens of thousands of dollars. If you only have the domain on parking he can't do anything. tell him to lodge a domain dispute with ICANN if he dares - cca $2000 cost of the process and then if he does get a TM lawyer.
Which could ultimately get very expensive. A lot of what happens depends on your intent with the name. What exactly is your intent, and do you plan on using it for profit?