We have recently been appointed the SOLE UK distributor for an overseas company (based in Italy) The old distributor isn't too happy with the Italians, but thats life, and he wasn't doing his job anyway, He's now offering the .co.uk domain to me for £3k PLUS £300 pm and there's not enough profit for £300pm let alone the 3k He's still running the website, but does NOT claim to be the distributor anymore. so of course, the question is, How does Nominet stand on these issues, How do we go about wrestling the .co.uk domain away from the old distributor regards kev (1st posting )
Hi Kev, this is just my opinion but I guess you would have no claim on the domain. The Italian company could perhaps fight a claim on the domain if its a copyright/trademark infringment but I presume as a distributor you have no legal claim on the domain name.
hmmmm don't neccessarily like the answer (but then who would) - I was rather hoping for " you've got a cast iron case ! " thanks anyway, I'll keep watching the thread.
sorry, new phrase here "new fitting" - I think its "find an equivilent name" - trouble is everyone in the uk would say "oh what you want is a ???? - go on the web and see what they offer." and they would naturally o to ????.co.uk
If your worried about ranking no.1 for the business/product name then its still possible to to rank 1st by registering a brand new domain as long as its not a very competitive word/keyword. You'll find plenty of help here along the way, best of luck.
no - its just natural for the purchasers of this product to go to the "tradeName.co.uk" as a starter, and he's still selling the stuff, so of course, people trade with him rather than us (the distributor)
But if your the sole UK distributor I would presume he would not be able to fulfill orders as the Italian co. would only supply you in the UK. Either way its a mute point as only the trademark/copyright owner could pursue the domain.
yup, the italians would only supply me (and of course, I'm reluctant to supply him) but where he WAS the distributor, he's got a bit of stock left over . . .
sji2671 is right. Just because you want the domain doesn't mean you can take it If the Italian company has registered the trademark here in the UK, they could attempt to claim the domain but you have no entitlement to it at all. I agree with Smyrl, start looking for an alternative domain name.But keep an eye on the one you are after. Perhaps you can pounce on it if he lets it expire