What are the legalities about owning someone elses business name?

[codemv]

I do website design and also resell domain names to my clients through enom for their sites. (It is just easier for them if I can help them manage their domain name registration, hosting etc.. ) I have one client who snapped up all of his local competitors' potential urls. "theirbusinessname.com".

I had one of the competitors call me and I told him to call the business who registered the domain name directly.

Does anyone know what the legalities are? My client has a number of these names parked on his website - probably to spur his competitors to contact him and make him an offer. Is he doing something illegal? and as his domain name reseller, should I be discouraging him?

Thanks in advance for your insight!

[wige]

You could run into problems if the name is trademarked. This had been a big issue a few years ago with major corporations and speculators buying domain names just as the web was starting to grow, and companies that didn't want to pay speculators huge amounts of money to get their domain name would sue the owner claiming trademark infringement.

[SemAdvance]

Hi Heather

I always go with if I need to ask others if something is right then more often than not it's not right.

A simple thing to do is sit in the competitors shoes a minute....do they need the hassle of fighting for something that should be their's?

Would your client like it if thieves took over his house while he was at work?? With little recourse from the police since possession is 9/10 of the law???

What if someone took his car and held it for ransom? Or better yet his kid?? How would he feel??

To most people their business identity is like their child

Lastly you get what you sew in life....if he has to steal other peoples names to make a dollar... then most likely he's headed nowhere

[codemv]

Thank you for the advise.

I will send my client an email letting him know that if they are using someone's trademarked name they could run into legal issues. I will do my best to discourage the practice all together. I would like to know in detail, though, what the exact legal ramifications are if the business names are not trademarked.

[hostBrain]

This company could complain to ICANN.
ICANN | Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy

Specifically:

4. Mandatory Administrative Proceeding.

This Paragraph sets forth the type of disputes for which you are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding. These proceedings will be conducted before one of the administrative-dispute-resolution service providers listed at CANN | Approved Providers for Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (each, a "Provider").

a. Applicable Disputes. You are required to submit to a mandatory administrative proceeding in the event that a third party (a "complainant") asserts to the applicable Provider, in compliance with the Rules of Procedure, that

(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and

(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and

(iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

[codemv]

Thank you for the information!

[WebEstatePros]

Hi Heather

I always go with if I need to ask others if something is right then more often than not it's not right.

A simple thing to do is sit in the competitors shoes a minute....do they need the hassle of fighting for something that should be their's?

Would your client like it if thieves took over his house while he was at work?? With little recourse from the police since possession is 9/10 of the law???

What if someone took his car and held it for ransom? Or better yet his kid?? How would he feel??

To most people their business identity is like their child

Lastly you get what you sew in life....if he has to steal other peoples names to make a dollar... then most likely he's headed nowhere

In regards to this comment I mean absolutely no disrespect, but could not leave this unsaid... You in no way can compare this to someone stealing your home, car, or kids. We are talking about items/goods that need to be purchased and if they are not yet purchased then they do not belong to anyone so therefore you do not have any rights to that item. What you are trying to say here is that if I buy the car or home that you wanted, you should be able to have that home or car. Domain names are not a right you just inherit because you own a company, it is something you must purchase whether it is a standard registration of a non-registered domain name or you have to purchase that domain from someone that already owns it, they saw it first, they bought it first. Let me repeat, they bought it first, they did not steal anything.

On the other side of this argument, you may be able to obtain rights to that domain through legal action if the person/business that currently owns it is using it in a way that infringes upon your trademarked name or is in direct competition with you and using your trademarked name to benefit themselves, but if they simply own it and are doing nothing with it you will most likely have to pay for it.

[deepsand]

Noting recent reader activity here, and for the benefit of future readers, it should be noted the previous post is factually incorrect.

Domain names are not a right you just inherit because you own a company, it is something you must purchase whether it is a standard registration of a non-registered domain name or you have to purchase that domain from someone that already owns it, they saw it first, they bought it first. Let me repeat, they bought it first, they did not steal anything.

On the other side of this argument, you may be able to obtain rights to that domain through legal action if the person/business that currently owns it is using it in a way that infringes upon your trademarked name or is in direct competition with you and using your trademarked name to benefit themselves, but if they simply own it and are doing nothing with it you will most likely have to pay for it.

This is called cyber-squatting; and, ICANN rules are designed to prevent it.

Whether or not the DN in question is being used is of no material relevance to the issue of whether or not the Registrant has a legal claim to the name. If not, his Registration can be voided by ICANN; and, he will not be entitled to compensation from a rightful claimant.

In essence, a cyber-squatter is gambling on being able to buy something that another will want, and be willing and able to pay for. If he bets on something that the other has a legal claim to, and he does not, he loses his bet.