Hydroxatone wants to sue me!?

[roamer]

Don't take my word for it, but I'm pretty sure that by now they may have an archived copy of this thread and will use it against you as proof of bad faith. As for most comments here, they're wrong or simple assumptions.

Go to domain related forums, like dnforum and do some research. You'll notice that similar cases went wrong for the domain name holder 90% of the times they didn't comply right away with the demands of the owners of a trademark, even if there was no apparent bad faith involved.

 

[ShiftySituation]

You are selling their product, I say lawyer up and fight it. Seizing a site because it is harming a company is one thing, but seizing one because it is promoting the company, which is what they want or they wouldn't allow reselling/affiliate sales, is just stupid. I think you should fight it for the good of internet marketing.

It's like companies that want you to promote their product but say you can't use PPC campaigns that target the products name. I think it's all bullshit and if they allow affiliate promotion or reselling, they shouldn't be able to complain about using their name for any purpose whatsoever.

 

[bradman]

Well now you got me trippin.. lol

Don't take my word for it, but I'm pretty sure that by now they may have an archived copy of this thread and will use it against you as proof of bad faith. As for most comments here, they're wrong or simple assumptions.

Go to domain related forums, like dnforum and do some research. You'll notice that similar cases went wrong for the domain name holder 90% of the times they didn't comply right away with the demands of the owners of a trademark, even if there was no apparent bad faith involved.

 

[chano420]

DO NOT ask them to buy it from you. This is a surefire way for them to rightfully/legally go after you. Per ICANN rules you can not have any "malicious intent" when registering a domain name. i.e. you cannot buy a domain name that contains someone elses copyrighted information or trademarked name and then offer to sell it to them. You can however use that domain for something that has nothing to do with that product or INDUSTRY. If you can prove that you did not plan to benefit from the trademark that THEY spent money marketing then usually you can keep it. But if your not doing that then odds are this keyword isnt going to be of any value.

I would just let them have it, see if they will cover your registration costs (dont demand just ask) or something. Take it as a lesson learned, and move on to the next.

They wont sue you though. They will just contact your registrar, or ICANN if they have to, and eventually the domain will be theirs anyways.

 

[bradman]

420 ftw

 

[roamer]

Well now you got me trippin.. lol

Just a heads up . A few years back I used to buy and sell domains, having hundreds of them at a time, so I was pretty active in domain forums, that's why I witnessed my share of domain name disputes. If they file a domain dispute with WIPO and you end losing, you'll have to pay the $1500.00 fee, plus lose the domain.

More info, cases, etc.:

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/

 

[fnd80]

I'm not a lawyer. But can Sony sue you because you have the domain Sony.inf00o? Nope. You own it. You bought it. You didn't do anything illegal to get it. The domain isn't copyrighted either. Therefore, copyright the domain then tell them you'll be more than willing to sell the domain to them for a hefty fee.

Also, keep the site up just have it redirect to another URL haha. That I'll really piss them off.

You really have no idea what you're talking about do you?

Sony is a trademarked name, just like Hydroatone. If you register a domain with it, and you don't have permission to use their trademark, it's trademark infringement, and they can sue you.

And trying to sell it to them would be considered cyber-squatting, and you'd get sued for that too.

Congratulations on being the worst advice-giver on the internet.

 

[wejee]

Did you sign an affiliate agreement? You know, the things most of us don't read, but click "I Agree" anyways? Read that, and see what it says. If it doesn't say anything about seizing domain names, use your .org to promote what dicks they are, and get testimonials from people who have been damaged by using their product :swordfigh

 

[loclhero]

I'm not a lawyer. But can Sony sue you because you have the domain Sony.inf00o? Nope. You own it. You bought it. You didn't do anything illegal to get it. The domain isn't copyrighted either. Therefore, copyright the domain then tell them you'll be more than willing to sell the domain to them for a hefty fee.

Also, keep the site up just have it redirect to another URL haha. That I'll really piss them off.

Really? You're not a lawyer? Next time you give internet advice on trademark or copyright infringement I suggest you do some research or take a basic class in copyright law. You are as wrong as wrong can be. Period.

These questions have been coming up here for years and the CORRECT answer is the same today as it was before: If someone owns a copyright or a trademark for a name, they can legally demand that anyone else not use that name. Whether they do or not is another story but if you think Sony does not have the right to sue someone's ass off for infringing on their mark, you are woefully ignorant of law. Jesus, this is so fucking basic.

To the OP: You lose. You do not own the name, you got caught. There are a million ways to Sunday for the copyright owner(s) to take action and they are PROTECTING WHAT IS RIGHTFULLY THEIRS.

 

[roamer]

To OP, the last few posts have the right answer for you, follow the advice and save yourself the stress and headaches.

And just an example of what happens when you don't heed the advice, this is a case from hundreds on WIPO's website I already pointed you to earlier. This is one in hundreds of real life cases, not assumptions. Check it, it's relevant to you because the domain was a trademark, and the registrant pointed the trademark to a competing brand's website (which you already did). Read througly and you'll see that just from this action, you have a lost cause, not to mention again the bad faith aspect or the part where you used the domain to sell the same product (bad faith), there are literally hundreds of cases you can study over there.

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=D2011-0155

I'm just trying to help you with facts, not just voicing my opinion on how things should be and attempting to pass that as sound advice, like it happened with earlier replies. Hope this helps you avoid loss and go on with your money making ventures.

 

[Money Man]

This happened to me with Walmart's trademark. All they wanted me to do was remove the content from the website. I thought I had taken every single piece of content down but I was mistaken, so I got another E-mail from them asking me to transfer the domain to my registrar. I did so and they wished me a happy holiday and I haven't heard from them since.

Also, I would suggest you not come on BHW for advice on situations like this. You will get some good answers, but a lot of people have NO IDEA what they are talking about thus it will be very easy for you to get confused. Either give them the domain or contact an ACTUAL LAWYER. End of story.

 

[prima]

In this context I would like to refer to an interesting domain related case involving Nissan motors ,japan and another guy in US who registered nissan.com domain..visit nissan dot com for more info on the case

 

[xu123]

Similar thing happened to me a few years ago, they can sue to take the name of you if they can prove that they had the trading name before you and that they were selling the product under that name before you purchased the domain. The best way to handle this is to ask them to make you an offer. I did and got one ( not big but I got an offer ). It's certainly cheaper than them having to pay huge sums to their legal team.

 

[stgermain]

If it's a brand, you can be infringing the Trademark. If your .org website only gives information about Hydroxatone products from different companies, the problem isn't that big I think.
But like others say, consult a good lawyer.

 

[homenet]

I'm not a lawyer. But can Sony sue you because you have the domain Sony.inf00o? Nope. You own it. You bought it. You didn't do anything illegal to get it. The domain isn't copyrighted either. Therefore, copyright the domain then tell them you'll be more than willing to sell the domain to them for a hefty fee.

Also, keep the site up just have it redirect to another URL haha. That I'll really piss them off.

Wow, this is awful advice, DONT listen to this guy.

 

[eskimo]

If i was you, i would remove the site and replace it with something unrelated to their products like "Hydroxatone hosting" or "Hydroxatone web development"

That way they can't take your domain at least.

Have a look at nissan.c0m, its the same sort of scenario

 

[redstone.1337]

Better pass it to them. You can't buy a domain (no one can basically stop you from registering) with company's trademark if the company was registered before your domain was. Things can go smooth until the company notices their brand name being used in domain name by someone. For any company this can be a risk to their reputation. Using trademarks these days is risky but keep banking until they catch on!

 

[Migladon]

Dude it's trademarked they have every right to sue you and would win if they did. It would be one thing if it was something generic like state-farm or something but hydroxatone is trademarked.

Back in the day I had a website with the name "runescape" in it and I had to abandon it. Same situation here.