Getting Out of Hand; Brazilian Buys Toyota.me — .Me Auctions

Why are .me domain auctions going so high? And why so many trademark domains?

Auctions for .me domain names continue, but we’ve by now seen some eye popping sales. Even more peculiar is the number of trademarks going for big dollars.

Toyota.me is the big one you’ve been reading regarding. It sold for $90,025. The whois record for Toyota.com Toyota.me now shows a Brazilian man Georg Kohler as the owner. I hope he has some sort of connection to the car firm or another brand called “Toyota”. Kohler also picked up Porsche.me. Maybe he owns a car dealership? I’m baffled that someone would spend close to six figures on a name they will likely lose in a trademark dispute. Even stranger is that someone else bid the price up along with the buyer. What’s the missing link here?

The second highest domain to sell is Oglasi.me. It means something in another language, and there’s a portal at Oglasi.com. Other big sales include:

only.me $33,405
aweso.me $24,189
skoda.me $20,010
brand.me $18,540
lasvegas.me $15,105
chatwith.me $15,035
korea.me $15,015
solve.me $13,116
volu.me $10,605
china.me $10,565
picture.me $10,240
recruit.me $10,155
baidu.me $10,005
onlinecasino.me $10,005
tag.me $10,005
secure.me $10,005
dna.me $10,004

Baidu.me may also be considered a trademark. The whois record for that domain isn’t activated yet.

Some trademark holders are getting their domains through auction. For example, Tyco picked up Tyco.me for $2,000

There are some other domains right now on auction that also pose risks. Facebook.me is at $4,015, Kia.me is $1,611 (this could be generic depending on how it’s used), and MacWolrd.me is $75.

This just goes to show that the fresh domain extensions that may be coming onto market over the next couple years will be a nice boost for trademark lawyers.

Here are some of the active auctions that are attracting lots of attention:

insure.me $50,005
match.me $17,755
hug.me $17,105
elevate.me $12,080
rank.me $12,015