Cybersquatting?

_Yakov_ · Jun 27, 2003

A company let a domain expire now wants it back.
As I understand they have no rights on the domain although it's trademarked. Right?
What if I offer them to buy it? If they file a law suit, would my purchase offer make sense ?

Also, can anyone explain what approximate charges the legal procedure involve?
If the aggressor looses the case what money does the winning party loose in defending itself? Or does the losing party have to cover all the cost inluding the legal fees of the winning party (e.g. pay the fees for the lawer(s) who was hired to defend the case)?

Thanks

namedropper · Jun 28, 2003

Originally posted by _Yakov_
A company let a domain expire now wants it back.
As I understand they have no rights on the domain although it's trademarked. Right?

Where did you come to this understanding? You might try to argue that they gave up rights, but if they have the trademark and you can't come up with a good reason to own it yourself then their rights probably still trump yours.

What if I offer them to buy it? If they file a law suit, would my purchase offer make sense ?

If you offer to sell it, then you just did something lots of places would consider bad faith, proving you have no right to the name in their eyes.

Also, can anyone explain what approximate charges the legal procedure involve?
If the aggressor looses the case what money does the winning party loose in defending itself?

Depends if it was a lawsuit or a UDRP decision, and how much you spent on lawyers.

Or does the losing party have to cover all the cost inluding the legal fees of the winning party (e.g. pay the fees for the lawer(s) who was hired to defend the case)?

Depends. But if you think you are likely to win, or that the winners will be complied to pay you for the money you spent defending yourself, my guess is that you are probably mistaken in both beliefs -- just going by my gut instnct from what little you have said.

DaddyHalbucks · Jun 28, 2003

A company let a domain expire now wants it back.
As I understand they have no rights on the domain although it's trademarked. Right?

WRONG. TRADEMARK RIGHTS GENERALLY FLOW FROM USE. IF THE COMPLAINANT HAS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK, IT HAS PRESUMED VALIDITY.

What if I offer them to buy it?

THAT IS TEXTBOOK 'BAD FAITH' UNDER THE UDRP AND THE ACPA.

If they file a law suit, would my purchase offer make sense ?

NO, IT WOULD BE MOOT. THEY WILL HAVE INVESTED IN THE SUIT.

Also, can anyone explain what approximate charges the legal procedure involve?

A UDRP COSTS A FEW GRAND. A LAWSUIT COSTS TEN TIMES THAT AT A MINIMUM.

CYBERSQUATTERS FACE POTENTIAL LIABILITY OF $100,000 PER DOMAIN UNDER THE ACPA.

If the aggressor looses the case what money does the winning party loose in defending itself?

THE DEFENDANT IS OUT IT'S OWN LEGAL FEES.

Or does the losing party have to cover all the cost inluding the legal fees of the winning party (e.g. pay the fees for the lawer(s) who was hired to defend the case)?

NORMALLY, LEGAL FEES ARE PAID BY THE RESPECTIVE PARTIES. IN EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES, A PLAINTIFF CAN GET A JUDGMENT FOR LEGAL FEES AGAINST A CYBERSQUATTER.

I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY, AND THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.

jberryhill · Jun 28, 2003

Cowboy, that was good.

Of course the merits of their claim depend in part on the strength of the trademark, so that is an unknown here.

It is extremely rare for the defendant to recover legal fees and costs. If the plaintiff's claim is at all non-frivolous, the prevailing defendant is not going to be awarded fees. The only time this happened in a domain name case was in cello.com:

www.johnberryhill.com/cello