Copyrighted domain

[Medow7]

hello:

One of my friend have a domain name similar to one of a big file sharing company.

The big company domain name is:

domainname.com

My friend domain name is:

domainname.net

The company contacted him telling him he will face to much trouble if he continue to use this domain.

I check the list of trademark company in USA, but i found that this company was not registered as a trade mark in USA.

Question Now:

1) Can he face any kind of trouble to use this domain.
2) Can he sell this this domain to the company.
3) How much money he should ask in exchange with this domain name.

Thank you.

Medow7 Reviewed by Medow7 on 4th Oct 2012. Copyrighted domain hello: One of my friend have a domain name similar to one of a big file sharing company. The big company domain name is: domainname.com My friend domain name is: Rating: 5

[methad0ne]

1) If trademark isn't registered (name), he can't face any legal charges
2) Yes, he can
3) Could you please, leave domain name? He can get maybe mid $X,XXX, if that file sharing company is popular and have huge revenue. Any other cases - mid to high $XXX. And of course, he can sell that domain to them only if they are interested.

[Medow7]

I PM you with domain name.

[Long]

Tell him not to let them bully him if they're not a registered TM, they're just trying to scare him into handing over the domain for free.

If they were smart they would have registered the .com and .net at the same time.

Tell them to make an offer on the domain if they're so interested in it.

[Medow7]

This is what i told him.

I told him to ask them to make him an offer , and if they didn't then let them go to court.

[sniffdog]

Do we have real lawyers in here?

The trademark is not registered in the US, but perhaps in another country. So why shouldn't they be able to sue him? For instance, a registered German company can sue an American citizen everywhere he wants.

Even if it's not registered in the US, the copyright holder can still file a complaint with the registrar. In most cases, the registrar doesn't want to await a trial, but will hand over the domain to the rightful owner.

Do not expect the name holder to settle with a squatter.

Domains are not copyrighted, company names are.