Tips to Protect Your Domain Names from Bogus Legal Threats (Part 2) — 10 Simple
5 more tips to protect your domain names.
[In the first part of this article, Bill Sweetman gave five tips for protecting your domain names from bogus legal threats. Here are five more.
6. Insist that all complaints be put in writing
This is really a follow-on to point #5 from my first post. If someone has a beef regarding one of your domain names, make them put it in writing. You’d be amazed at how many bogus complaints simply disappear forever when you do this. The folks with a legitimate complaint, or at least the folks who think they have a legitimate complaint, don’t mind committing their story to paper, and this ought to go into your handy dandy evidence file. Keep everything they send you forever; you never know when you may need it, even many years later.
7. Get the person to disclose their full identity
No matter how someone contacts you, insist that if they have a complaint they provide you with their full name, firm name, telephone number, email, and what their affiliation or interest is related to the domain name. You need to know who you are dealing with and how they are connected to the actual complainant so that you (or your lawyer) can respond in the most appropriate manner. This is another example where if they have a potentially legitimate complaint they will disclose their identity, and if they don’t they won’t and they will probably run away with their tail between their legs. Good riddance! If they reveal themselves to be a lawyer, or if you can determine that (Google is your friend here), be extra cautious regarding what you do and say. In fact, if you find yourself dealing with a lawyer with a beef it is probably time for you to get legal advice. Remember that every word you say or write can be used against you, and trust me it will.
8. Pin the person down
This tip is going to make me sound paranoid, but it will really save you a ton of potential grief. Bonus: it will increase the conversion rate of leads to buyers. If someone approaches you regarding buying one of your domain names, get them to agree – in writing (email is fine) – to three things: 1. that they initiated the dialogue with you; 2. That they will keep the dialogue to themselves and not share with others; and 3. That the dialogue will not be used as evidence in a legal claim or UDRP. Nothing sends weasels packing better than this strategy. This is basically a classic C.Y.A. (Cover Your Ass) move. I’ve seen some savvy domain portfolio holders bake this kind of language into their standard contact form on their domain landing pages.
9. Be careful if you have brokers pitching your domain names to buyers
Proactive domain brokers are fantastic at increasing the likelihood of you selling one of your generic domain names, but make sure you are clear on the guidelines for who they can and cannot pitch. For example, the brokers ought to probably avoid pitching friskyrobots.com to a firm named Frisky Robots even if the domain is 100% generic and there is no trademark infringement going on. The lawyers at Frisky Robots might think otherwise, and it doesn’t matter if they are wrong… you will still end up having to defend yourself from their complaint. Better that the broker pitches the domain to general robot-related firms and avoid any exact match target firms.
10. Deal with complaints promptly
Regardless of their merit, deal with any complaints you get promptly, especially if it’s a UDRP or threat of UDRP. The UDRP process is severely flawed and biased against legitimate domain investors, so you want to do everything you can to avoid the expense and hassle of having to defend yourself from a UDRP. If you find yourself on the receiving end of a Cease & Desist letter or UDRP complaint, seek immediate help from an experienced domain name lawyer. Do not respond to the complaint until you have gotten legal advice. In most cases, a good domain name lawyer will help you craft a response to the complainant that will neutralize their complaint and put a stop to any bogus threat. And if it does escalate to a UDRP, a domain name lawyer will significantly increase the odds of you winning the complaint.
11. Join the ICA (Internet Commerce Association)
OK, this is an eleventh and bonus tip, but I highly recommend you support the work of the only organization that is actively looking out for the rights of domain owners. ICA watchdog and lobbyist Phil Corwin does a great job of monitoring – and neutralizing – current and future threats to the erosion of legitimate domain owners’ rights.
Bill Sweetman is the President and Lead Ninja of Name Ninja, a boutique domain name consulting firm that helps firms acquire, manage, protect, and profit from their domain names. Name Ninja offers a suite of domain name consulting services for startups, entrepreneurs and marketers, corporate domain name owners, and fresh gTLD registries and operators.
