I run a successful one man business with http://www.web-magnets.com My corporation name is Web Magnets, Inc. I bought that domain name with a DASH between web and magnets because when I bought it (around 1999 or 2000), webmagnets.com without the DASH was owned by a non-competitive web site in australia. (I do business in U.S.) I checked it last year and found that a direct competitor had bought the domain and was using it to redirect to his site. I called them and the assistant to the owner said that the owner buys domain names similar to competitors so that he can get traffic. I sent them emails with links to information about cybersquatting but they didn't care. Now just this month he emails me and says he will sell it to me for $4500 or so. I told him I would pay only $500 because it will cost me $1000 for dispute resolution with an ICANN approved organization. He replied back that he already found another buyer and that I could take up that issue with him. Here is the problem: I would be willing to pay $1000 if it was a sure thing that I would win the case. But since I don't know if I will win, I can't imagine throwing $1000 down the drain. Does anyone have any alternative ideas on how to resolve this issue? P.S. It doesn't look like the domain name has changed to the supposed new buyer yet. http://www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/results.jhtml;jsessionid=0P2ZN5UC04KZWCWMEAQSFEY?whoistoken=0&_requestid=315132
Are you saying that its www.webmagnets.com that you want? (I don't see any redirect) Or that you let www.web-magnets.com expire and that is now owned by your competition? Can you clarify?
I have to agree as 1.) You can't automatically own every variation on your domain 2.) I don't even see its a competing site using it (not that I think it matters) The only case you would have IMO is if they were pretending to be you.
I still own web-magnets.com but my competitor WAS redirecting webmagnets.com but I see that it isn't redirecting NOW. I want webmagnets.com
Is it true that my Corporate name is automatically protected? Why can google control someone with "google" in the domain?
hmm .. I'm not very sure about this .. But I do not think that you will win the case.. Did you trademarked webmagnets ? Even though u did, u cant trademark .com either. I think domain names couldnt be trademarked, every1 has a chance to own a domain .. even bbc.com is sold by the previous owner to BBC for $300,000 .. if they can do it with cybersquatting why would bbc wasted $300,000. P/s : Im not professionally fit to answer this question. But i think you better use some good domain catchers next time if the domain is really that important to you..
Trademark and copyright have different protections then a Corporate ID. Consult an attorney. You WON"T get the right answer here. Too many variables and the more you talk, the more you help your competitor.
You are in a real gray area. From what I understand, unless your company name is formally trademarked, you won't get anywhere with this one. I don't believe your corporate name is protected with respect to domain names unless it is trademarked. We had the same thing happen to the last company I worked for, but on an international basis. Several competors in former Eastern block countries in Europe bought the local ccTLDs and set up sites claiming to be our official distributors. Fortunately, because we were an international company, we had already trademarked the name in most of the countries. It still cost us an average of $5,000 to resolve each one due to legal fees. We needed to get the attorneys involved to resolve it. I agree with noppid. You need to talk to an attorney that specializes in this area.
You must own the rights to the name in order to claim ownership - and even if you have a registered trademark, it wouldn't automatically give you rights to the domain. You don't need a registered trademark to own the rights- ownership goes to the first person to use the name (and not abandoned it). You can apply for a trademark but the process takes at least 6 years to complete and during that time anyone can come forward and claim they own the rights (contest your filing) because they used the name before you. You must prove you were using the name prior to them. After the six years (1 year publishing plus 5 years) your trademark becomes "uncontestable". Even if you could prove you used the name first, you still cannot automatically get the domain name. If I owned a jewelry line called "apple jewelry" and had registered the domain name apple.com, apple computers probably couldn't take the domain name because it wasn't being used for anything computer related. I own several uncontestable Federally Registered trademarks but have NO VALID CLAIM to the domain name because it is not being used for a business that is the same, nor would be confused, with my company. You should consult a trademark attorney, but it doesn't sound like you have a case from what you have explained. If you want the domain name, it would probably be cheaper just to buy it for $1,000. Even if you bought the domain name, someone else could still come forward and claim ownership of the domain name if the could prove they were using the business name for the same type of business before you were using it. That is why a trademark/name usage search is so important BEFORE you start using a name.
Normally it would take a copyright/TM to give you the rights but there can be expceptions such as the owner using the domain to imitate your business.
Here is an update on what I have done today. I sent a certified offer of $500. He countered at $2293.00 He also emailed and said that that is what he paid for it. I rejected and sent another certified offer of $750.00 He still countered at $2293.00 What would you do in a situation like this? Obviously it would be better to not have to tell people to make sure to type the DASH, but I am not sure if it is $2293.00 better.
I seriously doubt he paid $2293 for the domain name. He probably paid $10 for it. He knows it has the most value to you and you alone. Overture shows it is a seldom searched for keyword. I understand why it has value to you, but with 5 people a day searching for that keyword, why would someone pay much for it? If anyone else bought the name and started the same type of business to compete with you, you could sue them. I doubt anyone else is going to pay him anything close to $750, BUT you run the risk and he knows it. If it was me, I would: #1 Edit all my posts on this thread to remove the name of the domain or else yours posts will soon be indexed and the owner will know you want it bad. #2 Tell him $750 is you final offer, that it would be nice to have the domain name but you have gotten legal advice that any attempt to trade upon your business with the domain name will subject them to legal damages and that is all you were really worried about. Footnote: I don't know how much money your business makes (and don't want to know) but if $2293.00 is a fraction of your yearly profit, it may be worth it to give in to this legal extortion.
The question is how bad do you want it. We have paid 2,800 for a domain a few months ago which was more than worth it to us but would have been crazy for more members here to even consider it. If the name fits, try to get it
assuming you were to get the domain.... are you going to let your existing one go?? or are YOU going to cyber-squat it? i would say 'web-magnets' is more searched than the term 'webmagnets' so you should be more successful with what you have. also on your site you have "They are 20 mil thick (a little bit thinner than a credit card)," 20 mil ???? thats 2cm !!..i haven't got a credit card that fat... what do you have in your wallet?
I would keep both names. You can't cybersquat your own domain. Cybersquatting is a competitor stealing traffic that is intented to go to someone else.