I just received a letter from a rather large company's lawyers requesting that I immediately transfer my domain, which contains their name, over to them. Ive had the domain for a year and they only just noticed it. I realise Im in the wrong for registering the domain without asking. But, Im wondering what the process is. Do i HAVE to hand it straight over to them? What about people who used to domain sit on copyrighted domain names and demand big bucks for them? Im not too fussed if I do have to transfer it to them, however i was just wondering if I should just bow down to their request like that or is there something else I can do?
It is a TM not a copyright in this case. Without knowing the domain and your reasons to buy it a real answer can not be given. Also you may want to speak to a lawyer. That said, from the style of your post, like 'I should have asked permission', it sounds like you may just want to hand it over. I assume they existed before you registered the domain so having it for one year really is a non issue.
Yes its a big company. I registered hoping to develop it as a community for a particular product. I ended up turning it into a blog and I started making a bit of money from adsense off it, so Im not too happy about giving it up that easily. Although theres no way its worth me getting a lawyer, it's just not worth that kind of money. I just wanted to know if I have any rights in this at all.
Is the term a word, or completely made up? Is the blog related to anything in the same industry. Problem is no real advice can be given without specifics. Also, I only know US law... in the us, sucks sites and parady are protected somewhat. There next step is likely to file a UDRP complaint against you. That costs them about $1500. They do of course have the option of skipping that and just suing you even without notice.
The term IS their company name. So basically the domain is "companyname-product.com" Yes, it sounds like an "official" site, but I clearly state on the site that its an unofficial source of information and reviews relating to this particular product and other products by the same company. How out of line would I be asking them to purchase the domain from me? I realise without legal support they'd walk all over me, but is this a possibility?
You can try and ask for reg fee, if you ask for more then that, they could use that against you to prove your bad intent in court and/or arbitration.
did you check with uspto to see if they have a mark on it? and have you replied to their request yet?