Respond to a Domain Threat — How to
What to do when you receive a domain threat.
I rarely receive legal threats regarding my domain names. I’ve never received a UDRP, and can remember only a couple times someone took the time to e-mail me suggesting that they had rights to my domains. (None of those people followed up, by the way.)
But this morning I got “one of those” calls. My cell phone rang at 7:40 this morning, and the person on the other end stated, “I see that you own thisdomain.com. I’m sure you’re aware that there’s a trademark for ‘this term’.”
“I’m not aware of that, but I can look it up,” I stated. I jumped onto USPTO.gov and searched for the two word term. Indeed, there is a trademark, but it’s for a design plus words, not the word.
“Oh, this is a design patent,” I stated.
“So What? That doesn’t matter,” the caller replied.
“Well, your trademark registration specifically states NO CLAIM IS MADE TO THE EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO USE “THIS TERM” APART FROM THE MARK AS SHOWN,” I stated.
Had the person tried to trademark the generic term, he likely would have failed.
I told him he was welcome to contact me regarding the domain, at which point he stated he had a lawyer. I stated great, why don’t you send me an email so I have your contact information. I’m sure we can handle this in an amicable manner.
Following I got off the phone I researched the domain some more. The ads on the domain had nothing to do with the topic, it was registered prior to the trademark, and the so-called trademark owner is nowhere to be seen on the first page of Google (but a number of generic users are). Of course, I grabbed screenshots.
Will he follow up? I don’t know. I suspect his lawyer will suggest he does, thereby generating more fees. The sad thing is, I really think we could come to an amicable solution. As long as he doesn’t rub me the wrong way.
