Inadvertantly bought .com with a real company name - What next?

[tescovalue]

I develop web applications. I buy .com domain names that consist of nonsense words (not in the dictionary) but sound like they could be real words, as there's not much else left, to use for these projects.

I've bought a couple recently from a startup that sells names with logos (it gets my projects up and running quickly). Now that I've taken one of these domains out of 'parking' mode on godaddy I'm receiving a lot of email for a company of the same name.

I've only done quick research on the company and the domain name history but it look like they have never owned the domain. They are a parent company and have various registered domains but not the .com. I'm assuming that the email I'm receiving is accidental as senders are assuming the have the .com that goes with their company name. They have a UK trademark application under examination but only filed in the last few weeks (despite their company being in existence for many years). They work in a sector that has nothing to do with what I had intended for the website. I usually register trademarks myself for websites I launch. In this case it would be valid to make a trade mark application as although the name would be the same the 'classifications' would not overlap. However they could, of course, object to my application.

Part of me thinks I should launch my website (and perhaps register a trademark).
Another part thinks that they might want to buy it from me and I might make a profit (I've read a selection of posts of this forum and it sounds like this might not be straightforward and I may not make much of a profit).
Another part of me thinks that I should scrap the idea of using this domain name whatsoever (thus avoiding any hassle).

Any advice appreciated.

 

[Theo]

As I'm not familiar with the tm law in the UK I can't comment on that. However, as both of you are in the UK you are exposed to local law more so than, for example, someone who lives in the US. Did the .co.uk holder make an inquiry wanting to buy the .com from you?

 

[copper]

You can develop the as long as your site has nothing to do with that company's web site, brand, products.

 

[tescovalue]

Did the .co.uk holder make an inquiry wanting to buy the .com from you?

No I've not been approached by the .co.uk holder.

I've looked at WayBackMachine and the site has only been used as holding adverts with messages "This domain may be for sale by its owner". So guess the company could have bought it by now if they had wanted to.

---------- Post added at 01:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:50 PM ----------

You can develop the as long as your site has nothing to do with that company's web site, brand, products.

Yes, it absolutely doesn't have anything to do with their website or products. The sector is entirely different.

The only connection is the name - which is not a word in an English dictionary. However, is their name part of their brand. This could be a possible argument.

 

[Christian Diamond]

Unfortunately I can't find the exact case on my phone, but try looking up "Nissan Motors vs. Nissan Computers". Not sure how it would transfer to UK law, but under US law it was found that two businesses can exist with a similar name as long as the second business is not trying to gain customers/goodwill by impersonating the first company in their business space.