I recieved an meail and letter from a law firm saying that will need to transfer a domain I purchased last month to them. They say the domain name is trademarked and I cannot use it....? Is this true?
I replied to a thread similar to this the other day. Conclusion: I would give the domain up. If it's trademarked then you can't use the domain. I would post it here, if it includes a companies name and it was the company that sent you the letter, then you probably need to give it up.
Hi, This has come up a lot recently. I would first make sure the law firm is genuine and acts on behalf of the company in question - you could just ask the company outright if the law firm acts for them. Then make sure the domain name is trademarked (you might know this already). If it is, you won't be able to use it. This also will almost always apply if the domain name only contains the trademarked name, e.g. microsoft.net - microsoftworld.net. Paul
If possible, do disclose the name and let us all see it for ourselves whether the name does actually infringe on an established trademark! Regards, RightMan
If it is indeed a Trademark then they may have a claim, however, Trademarks are not all-encompassing so they do not necessarily have the right to it. For example, say someone bought a domain, apple.cc-tld and created a site about fruit. Apple.com would have no claim. Additionally, remember this is the internet and there is also a slim chance it's a scammer trying to get their hands on the domain (unlikely but you never know).
is that a dictionary word ? is that a company name in other ext and you want to use ? difficult to give any view without name.
Well, as far as I know, they cannot force you to hand it over... unless you have already tried to run a travel-related site or anything related to it on the domain, in which case you're better just signing it over because you won't win and could lose a lot of money in legal fees trying to defend it. If you've never used it and you happen to have a website about footwear then you're perfectly within your rights to use it and they have no claim whatsoever (although they may still attempt to drag you into court to defend it).
sandals-jamaica.com owned by same sandals.com company so it must be genuine threat as you are running the travel blog which they may not like. better give them and move on now.
It depends on whether you think it is worth your time, and possibly money, to defend it. You can write back and ask for details on specifically how it is in violation of a trademark. A lot of times, they may not be able to take the domain away from you, however, they can take you to court, which can be quite costly.
Is there a site running on it? If not, there's nothing they can do to tie your domain to their company. For all anyone knows, you could be trying to sell pairs of sandals in Jamaica that is, unless your intent was to infringe on Sandals Inc. and they can prove it.
If you receive the request by mail and email then it' most likely a serious inquiry to give up the domain name. if you are in the U.S you will only lose the battle at the court and might cost you some money. If i was you i will give it up without headaches.
Sandals legal team were fast :-( If u have it regged in your real name and as it's nearly undeveloped prob safer to hand it over without a fight. Most UDRPs are lost by domainers and being in the US might leave u open to legal hassle. "Here we will discuss the making and selling of Jamaican shoes and sandals." u have good sense of humour
That's bullshit, don't give it up they have nothing against you. I have had those emails myself, I told them to go f*** themselves, nothing ever happened.
I see that you have removed anything that was on the site before and simply thrown on a new wordpress template and then wrote what you have about shoes etc. You have an issue here due to the fact that according to someone further up the thread you were using the domain as a travel blog and that would mean that you were stepping into their industry with the view to pull visitors away from them. This will be seen within the search engine way back machines if they have any sense. The domain isn't the best anyway in my opinion and does tread on toes the minute you make it about travel so i would give up the $10 domain and get rid of the hassle.