GoDaddy using my domain name as a service

zooman · May 3, 2006

I have *this* domain for about 4 years. Recently over this last winter GoDaddy.com introduced a service with the same name as my domain name. It is even a similiar service as to what I have been developing on my domain.

Do I have any legal options? Anyone know a lawyer that is willing to take a look at this in depth to see if we can take this to court?

PM me for more info on the particular domain etc.

Thanks for you input all.

DNjet · May 3, 2006

do you have a trademark on it?

zooman · May 3, 2006

Nope I do not have a trademark on the domain.

webfreak · May 3, 2006

Does GD have a TM?

http://www.uspto.gov

StuntPope · May 3, 2006

If you have no trademarks and you never launched, then that's it.

Your only recourse is to launch your service, compete with Godaddy and do a better job of it.

In some ways it can even benefit you if godaddy expends their efforts to increase awareness of the service which a serious buyer may find you do it better

in other words, let the 800 lb gorilla create the awareness, and you fill the need.

DNQuest.com · May 8, 2006

Since you registered the domain well before thier service, they cannot prove bad faith registration. But usage could play a role if you intentionally copy thier site/services. You did not establish rights to the name since you let it set for 4 years.

zooman · May 8, 2006

When you say let it "sit for 4 years" what do you mean by that, I mean its an active website and web.archive.org can prove that.

webfreak said:
Does GD have a TM?

http://www.uspto.gov

Nope GoDaddy has no trademark that I can find of my name in that database.

DNQuest.com · May 9, 2006

"It is even a similiar service as to what I have been developing on my domain."

From this statement, it seems to me that the domain is setting there while you are still "developing" it. If it an active domain (meaning not parked or anything like that), then that is a a different story than what I had orginally thought. So is your site developed or not with the service that GD is offering?

zooman · May 9, 2006

DNQuest.com said:
"It is even a similiar service as to what I have been developing on my domain."

From this statement, it seems to me that the domain is setting there while you are still "developing" it. If it an active domain (meaning not parked or anything like that), then that is a a different story than what I had orginally thought. So is your site developed or not with the service that GD is offering?

I have had this service and disclaimer for years on my domain...

DOMAINNAME is an automated web publishing tool currently in beta test.
DOMAINNAME offers many of the same features as other popular
blogging tools such as Blogger or LiveJournal.
For access to the beta test or for more information on DOMAINNAME
contact the webmaster at this domain via email.

It is developed working and in beta and has been for years.

DNQuest.com · May 9, 2006

It seems that you have nothing to worry about then. You had been doing it for years. But I would think after several years, you would be out of beta lol

zooman · May 9, 2006

I guess I should just suck it up and pay a lawyer to do some discovery and see if I cant sue GD.

Dave Zan · May 9, 2006

Consider the possibility, though, that Go Daddy might sue you for potential lost
business as well if that happens. It sucks, yes, but that's reality.

DNQuest.com · May 10, 2006

zooman said:
I guess I should just suck it up and pay a lawyer to do some discovery and see if I cant sue GD.

The question is, do you have a common law TM on the ervice name? Just having it isn't enough, you need to build it into something to aquire TM status. The amount of traffic and the amount of money and your recognition will all play factors into your claim. GD will try to show you did not do enough to claim TM status and it would be decided by a court whether you have the TM status or not. This is where registering your TM would come in very handy. You would have done all that work already and be recognized by the government as having registered TM status.

Creature · May 10, 2006

I am new here and I am not a lawyer: If it is the domain that I think it is, then the domain name self describes the service. Therefore I don´t see why you would not be able to use it as originally intended. The godaddy site may well increase the visits to your site. If I were you I would try for a TM on the domain name including the .com (ie thedomainname.com). Creature