Starting business, Domain taken. Need help.

[Shopfuze]

Ok here is my problem.

In all honest, one day I was in bed. I came up with this great idea, and a great name/brand. The problem is the domain for my company is being "Squated" on by someone who registered it back in 2002. The domain just recently went into "PendingDelete", then was back ordered by someone.

I own the trademark to the name, and it is not generic. Am I able to get this domain since I own the trademark?

What should I do?

[zharlene]

Yes, if you own the trademark and it's not a generic word, you have every right to the domain. You should just ask the person who owns it to hand it to you (up to you if you're willing to buy it for reg fee).

[Mega B]

If someone else has registered the name again i dont think you will have much chance in fact no chance,there is one way you could get it and that is approach the new owner and make a offer for the domain but dont pressure it to much or mention anything about you owning trademarks etc as he will sense that you want it urgently and boy he will take advantage of it and push the selling price up.You also mentioned that this person has owned the domain name since 2002 how long have you had your trademark ???

[Shopfuze]

Mega,

The LLC and trademark were regostered about 2 weeks ago. The domain was bought in 2002 and went into "PendingDelete" about a week ago. I was trying to register it but a squatter used snapnames to grab the domain before I could.

[Mega B]

I think that if they have grabbed it i dont think you can do anything about it apart from what i have said before and make a offer for it,they dont have to sell the name !!!

The only other option is to get another domain similar or with a differant .extension to it like .us instead of .com

Only a suggestion.

[Fadzuli]

Didn't you check for the domains first before you pay for the trademark?

Probably this is a lesson learnt...Some people may tell you to trademark your brand first. But in this era you have to check for both online and offline..

If you really need it badly, then talk to the guy nicely and buy it from him...

[JLeezer]

I think you will find that it is very difficult to get that domain name unless you purchase it for whatever price you can negotiate with the current owner. The reason large companies can pursue domains with their trademarks in them is because they have millions of dollars to do so. A trademark is only worth the money you can spend on attorneys to enforce it. If you don't have the money to fight, you don't have a valuable trademark and you don't have any power.

[JohnnyBudZ]

This is funny beucase i recently had this convorsation with my aunt, who is an attorney. She told me that once you own the trademark your entitled to that domain. Now, if a person is using it for a blog or such, you may not be able to make a claim. In the other case, where its "parked", YOUR entitled to that domain and they must sell you that domain for no more then the price they attained it.

The problem is finding the person who owns it. I will ask her what you can do (further steps) sometime soon.

[Shopfuze]

I did check to see if the domain was registered before trademarking the name.

I trademarked the name 2 weeks ago, and the domain was set to expire a week after that. I didn't think anyone else would want it so I was going to register it when it dropped. Well someone thought otherwise and used snapnames to grab it.

There is nothing on the site, and hasn't been for a long time. The domain is being squated on. As far as getting a attorney and taking to court, if that is necessary then I guess that is what will happen.

[JohnnyBudZ]

OK well I spoke to her earlier, she told me that if someones USING the site for something (which there not) then theres no sense in making a claim enless your a multi million dollar corp. On the other hand, you have the legal rights to that name, if someone is just parking it for investment purposes, thats illegal. Its not a serious crime, and someones not going to jail over it, but you CAN take them to a civil court. In this case I have no idea how you would go about that beucase he could be in india then who the hell knows.

You just have to ask yourself: Is this idea really worth taking legal action over?

[Shopfuze]

Yea it's deff worth taking legal action, but hopefully it wont come to that.

[Cornelian]

Have you contacted the new owner? Have they tried to sell you the domain?

[LiL1Penny]

Hope its not shopfuze.com that your after cuz there is a site up on that domain. That might make it a little more difficult for you.