Hi I own IxCQ, I was thinking of contacting ICQ to see if they wanted to sell it but on second thought I wasn't sure if they might just demand the domain from me. What do you guys think?
Offering to "sell" the domain name to a trademark holder is a quick way to uphold the "bad faith" provision that must be proven in a domain arbitration case -- If they wish to pursue arbitration and gain control if it, it will only make it that much easier for them to do so (1/3 was already provided for them!).
IXCQ.com ... I don't see any legal issues with ICQ... If it were ICQx.com or something like xicq.com I could see it being trademark infringement.
Offering to sell an infringing domain to the trademark holder is never a good idea.... In this case, I don't think they would have a case as long as you don't have any content on the site that would infringe upon their usage.... I wouldn't, however, say anything like... "I get people coming to my domain looking for yours" or "I get lots of typos for your domain", etc., nothing that would imply you are getting any of their traffic - nor imply that if they don't buy it, you are going to compete with them. Don't try to pitch the domain to them as why it would be something they would want or use - they can figure it out if there is any interest.