Threat From "CitizenHawk.com". Comments?

I got this threatening email today (with specific info edited out)... anyone heard of this?

___________

Dear Administrative Contact



Re: Infringement of "Acme Inc." Marks



Case#:XXXXXXXXXXXXXX



This trademark infringement notice has been sent to you by CitizenHawk, the leader provider of digital brand management solutions. This notice is sent on behalf of Acme.com LP, which operates the Acme Web site.



Please be advised that Acme.com LP or one of its affiliates is the registered owner of the ACME trademark, U.S. Registration No. 2254700. ACME has been using the ACME mark continuously since 1996.



It has come to our attention that you have registered the following domain name: 1acme.com.com



It is clear that you are trying to capitalize on our client’s very strong trademark rights by using a confusingly similar domain name to divert traffic to your site. Your registration and use of this domain name infringes our client’s trademark rights because it creates the likelihood of confusion, mistake or deception in that the public will be confused as to the source or sponsorship of the goods and/or services provided by you or affiliation with ACME. This type of misrepresentation is specifically banned by existing federal statutes covered in the AntiCyberSquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), which also provides for statutory damages specifically directed toward domain names which infringe or dilute existing trademarks of up to $100,000.00 per infringing domain.



We hereby demand that you immediately discontinue use of this domain name and that you assign the domain name registration to acme.com LP.



Please respond with an affirmative response to this email by replying to “domainrecovery@citizenhawk.com” by May 30, 2007. Please note your case # in the response. The CitizenHawk domain recovery team will work with you to help facilitate the domain transfer process.



If we do not receive the requested response, we will take such action as we deem appropriate to protect the ACME mark.







CitizenHawk Domain Recovery

 

Is ACME the real name in dispute or are you just using ACME as an example?
I do not see #2254700 at http://tess2.uspto.gov.

Unless we know the real name under dispute we really can't offer opinions as to the claim's validity.

Are you using 1acme.com.com? It is a sub-domain. UDRP would not cover it unless the plaintiff went after the com.com domain owners.

 

I really don't know if I should mention the exact web address -- but it IS a numeral, followed by an existing website. The site "http://www.3ebay.com" would be an exact replica -- except it's not Ebay. But it IS a huge website.

 

If they have a trademark and you are in the same business I would suggest taking down your site. Can you afford to fight it? Is it a 1xxxx.com.com subdomain or was that a typo?

 

No, there's no "double" .com, it's almost EXACTLY like:

www.6yahoo.com

But it's a retail type of site... I'm not in the retail business. It was really more of an experimant to see how much traffic a typo with a numeral near the first letter of the domain would get. By the way... it turns out, not much.

Obviously they're asking that I take it down... but do I transfer it to them for no charge? I did pay for it. It would be nice to get something for it.

 

I was asked to take down a site & turn over a domain a few years ago by a trademark lawyer claiming copyright on a generic word. I did take down the site (I couldn't afford to fight him) but did not turn over the domain to him. I did send a letter saying that i would take the site down, not use it again, and that I never made any money on it or profited from their name. He made money by intimidating sites into paying him royalties but lost almost all cases that actually went to court - but it cost the site owners $$,$$$+ to fight him.

 

Okay, I know I may sound dumb... but just to be clear:

Q: www.7ebay.com would be considered cybersquatting... and infringing on a trademark?

 

Per se, a domain name doesn't automatically infringe a trademark. However, a
mark holder is obligated to protect their trademark rights or risk seeing it turn
generic (e.g. kleenex, aspirin).

Depending on a variety of factors (e.g. uniqueness of trademark, usage of the
domain name, aggressiveness of mark holder, etc.), it's not always easy to tell
when to let go and when to fight the good fight. But if you intend to defend
your rights to the domain name, then stop posting here and seek legal advice
from a licensed, experienced attorney who specializes in these things.

If the domain name contains a trademark consisting of a made-up word that's
not found in any dictionary, your chances of showing legitimate use are slim.

 

Acme is the most common of names.

Are they going to go after Bugs Bunny and the Will E. Coyote as well?

I think your fine as long as you don't use it for any use that's close to what their business involves.

 

Suffering Succotash. ACME was just an example not the actual name.

 

AH, dammit. I thought I was so slick too.

It's 2pm here and I just woke up a bit ago. Long night last night. Oh well! Win some, lose some.

 

I wasn't in their business... or any business with any domain... but had listed with NameDrive attempting to get some click traffic. Got none though.

They sent me a second email (after I sent them one saying I had taken the site down) and they said they wanted me to "push" the admin for the domain to their godaddy account. Does that sound suspicious? Ive never heard the term used that way ("Push")... so I sent them an email saying pretty much that I took the site down, that should be enough.

They haven't written back.

Hmmm.

 

I just got an email from them too, anyone knows if this is legitimate or not?

"CitizenHawk Domain Recovery"

 

The letter is real. Whether it's "legitimate" or not will likely require a lawyer to
look into it.

I've since learned a couple of things about CitizenHawk, one of which is that
this thing they're doing isn't legal in some US states.

 

I am not in US, I am not sure how much they could affect me in this case.
But now I droped some domains already.