I was just contacted by a lawyer to sell a domain I own, I acquired it in auction when I was still green in 2008, I had had just low offers so I never considered selling seriously. He does not mention any type of dispute but his law firm must do malpractice lawsuits and the domain is tailor-made for that, it does sound like he just wants to buy it and he already handregged the .net of the term, just days ago. His offer is decent enough but rather low, it's potentially a $$,$$$ domain and I even considered paying for developing it at some point. I once had a lawyer overseas buy a domain for me, they've since sold it to someone in that country, or it was always meant for their client and they never said that. That one, however, had never been trademarked
The domain now in question was bought as expired and I never knew who owned it before. I really did not know there was a tm on it until I did a search just now, and it's a live one. How would you approach this inquiry by this lawyer ? If he had not mentioned an offer I might choose not to reply and see if he emails again (he contacted me through a parked page and I have privacy on it) but he wrote an amount and I want to counter. I figured if he were after me due to the tm he could still do it formally after, whether I respond to his offer or not. I could just counter and see if he wants to go higher but I don't know, could he use that as "greed" later even when it's not ? Plus the fact it's "just parked" like domainers are always accused of doing. I don't want to give them any more ammunition against me just in case. Now that I know it's tm'd I do want to sell it lol....but it's worth a lot more. He's not an IP attorney btw but that does not mean much, and it'd be so ironic if he didn't know it's tm'd, but even if he wants it for himself/his law firm I guess he must know by now (Could he be representing the tm holders and just won't say, is that even permissible ?....)
The term for the domain was actually tm'd in 2001 by a well-known American company, but they don't seem to be using it and they've never contacted me. Mine is the .com and the .org has private reg but it's being used by an individual, his own webpage, and I assume he has nothing to do with the tm holders
I don't think it's even that ethical for a lawyer to approach a seller as a buyer when it's actually for a client, although they possess their power of attorney for all matters (normally) and they may not be legally required to disclose they're acting as proxy buyers only. If the name gets sold and I'm OK with the price I actually do not care whom it's really for lol. Would you just let it go and see if he increases the offer or would you respond carefully knowing what he does ? My concern is that he might go a lot higher and I'd miss out on a good sale. I had a highly aggravating experience in a UDRP the claimant ended up winning as expected for all cases involving domainers at WIPO. Both the client and lawyer were vicious since the start and they really went too far accusing me of things they knew were not true. They most likely would've still won without all those lies. They were not in the US btw, and WIPO loves it when you're not American. This new lawyer is in the US and he's a name partner in his firm, no less....?! (He may even be reading this and I don't have a problem since it's all true....)
The domain now in question was bought as expired and I never knew who owned it before. I really did not know there was a tm on it until I did a search just now, and it's a live one. How would you approach this inquiry by this lawyer ? If he had not mentioned an offer I might choose not to reply and see if he emails again (he contacted me through a parked page and I have privacy on it) but he wrote an amount and I want to counter. I figured if he were after me due to the tm he could still do it formally after, whether I respond to his offer or not. I could just counter and see if he wants to go higher but I don't know, could he use that as "greed" later even when it's not ? Plus the fact it's "just parked" like domainers are always accused of doing. I don't want to give them any more ammunition against me just in case. Now that I know it's tm'd I do want to sell it lol....but it's worth a lot more. He's not an IP attorney btw but that does not mean much, and it'd be so ironic if he didn't know it's tm'd, but even if he wants it for himself/his law firm I guess he must know by now (Could he be representing the tm holders and just won't say, is that even permissible ?....)
The term for the domain was actually tm'd in 2001 by a well-known American company, but they don't seem to be using it and they've never contacted me. Mine is the .com and the .org has private reg but it's being used by an individual, his own webpage, and I assume he has nothing to do with the tm holders
I don't think it's even that ethical for a lawyer to approach a seller as a buyer when it's actually for a client, although they possess their power of attorney for all matters (normally) and they may not be legally required to disclose they're acting as proxy buyers only. If the name gets sold and I'm OK with the price I actually do not care whom it's really for lol. Would you just let it go and see if he increases the offer or would you respond carefully knowing what he does ? My concern is that he might go a lot higher and I'd miss out on a good sale. I had a highly aggravating experience in a UDRP the claimant ended up winning as expected for all cases involving domainers at WIPO. Both the client and lawyer were vicious since the start and they really went too far accusing me of things they knew were not true. They most likely would've still won without all those lies. They were not in the US btw, and WIPO loves it when you're not American. This new lawyer is in the US and he's a name partner in his firm, no less....?! (He may even be reading this and I don't have a problem since it's all true....)
