I visited a site www.xxxReview.com (name changed). I liked the site and business model, and I bought a domain name xxxReviews.in. Now after one year, I got an email from the owner of www.xxxReviews.com: Hi, I run xxxReview.com, and we are looking to expand our business into India. Because we hold the federal trademarks to all uses of "xxxReview", and because you are located in the United States, (and not using the domain besides for a landing page), I thought that I would politely ask you to sell it to us for its registration cost + some modest amount that compensates you for the time/effort. xxx is a common noun like car, house, school etc. I did some research and found that "xxxReview" is a generic name, and I bought this name as per ICANN regulations and UDRP policies. I am not currently earning any revenue, or running any business using this name, neither I intent to do any business like www.xxxReview.com as long as I am in USA. Please suggest me what should I do now? Thanks.
I'm not a lawyer, and it sounds like you need to consult one to find out if they really own the trademark. If they do, I don't think you have a case, but then again, I'm not a lawyer. If you're not making tons of cash, I would dump it. If you're only making a couple of bucks, and there is a slight possibility that they could have those particular words trademarked, I say take the offer.
I would be curious if they have the trademark, and I would seriously doubt they have it for "all uses" since that is not how companies register trademarks. That being said, if you are not making money, sounds like you could make a profit and sell the name. If you want to PM me the name, I will look it up and tell you what is trademarked.
They are lying to you, there is no trademark for "xxxReview" they are just trying to bully you around into thinking they could do something about you owning the domain, even if they did have the trademark which they don't they have no legal grounds to stand on a domain not even being used.
Well, think of it like this, go and look at there site, see how big it is, how much traffic, see how much value it has, and I would think 1/10th of that would seem like a good figure, so If they are making $10k You should be able to get at least 500-1000 for it, I mean this is no set figure I'm just giving you a general idea, If you don't care about it too much just ask for what you think it's worth to you. I would think a few hundred bucks should be a easy set deal for the both of you, plus you don't have to worry about it anymore.
Do not post the domain name here or the part about how you do not use it. That does not help your negotiation and makes this thread easily findable by them.
Since you have not used the domain, that actually works in your favor since you [have not infringed on their mark by mere ownership] could just keep it and not use it and they could not get it from you. So, that being said, you can sell it, but you need to be careful as in your attempts to do so, you may end up inadvertently providing them with proof of cybersquating - whether that was your intent or not. If it were me, I would send an email saying something to the effect: I would basically force them to make you an offer and then respond accordingly.
Thanks browntwn, I fully understand your view and got my answer. I also understand that if windows.com sells computers, and windows.in sells wooden windows it won’t be the infringement of the windows.com's registered trademark, as the later has very different market and business model.
In your case, the fact that both terms are generic is in your favor, but also does not leave you many good non-infringing uses of the domain. This is one where you get what you can for it and move on. At least that is what I would do. Do not get sucked into telling them what your non-infringing idea is. There is no need. Just that you express confidence that you have one.
I highly doubt he would have problems if he sued it, they would have to prove he actually intended to use the domain in bad faith and at a outrages price which a few hundred bucks wouldn't be considered that, now maybe if he wanted $20k then yeah.. But I would just sell it and clean your hands from headaches
You reminded me of a case windows vs lindows where the courts ruled they didn't violate the trademark because windows was used as a graphic interface if I remember correctly and both had the same thing though both were operating systems, lindows ended up selling the domain to Microsoft for millions of dollars and changed there name, but just an example I guess.