Sues to get outside.com — Outside Interactive
Firm tried to get the domain name via UDRP over 15 years ago.
Outside Interactive, a sports and outdoor media firm, has sued the owner of outside.com in an effort to get the domain name.
It’s the firm’s second attempt to acquire the domain through legal means.
In 2006, the firm’s predecessor-in-interest filed a cybersquatting complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization. That complaint was denied.
Joshua Bolin, an Austin man, purchased the domain name sometime following the failed UDRP. Outside Interactive is now suing Bolin and his banker for cybersquatting and other claims.
Outside Interactive’s lawsuit states (pdf)
In late April 2024, Bolin through David Hill, a managing director for Defendant Westlake Securities, which purported to act on behalf of Bolin, contacted Outside with a proposal: to sell the Infringing Domain Name to Outside. While Defendants continued to pitch to Outside, Outside discovered that in addition to Bolin’s plan to commercialize the Infringing Domain Name by trying to sell it, Bolin had launched the Infringing Website.
Bolin has struck back (pdf), saying Outside Interactive is misconstruing the April 2024 communications regarding selling the domain.
As stated by Bolin, it was Outside Interactive that made overtures regarding buying the domain.
In a reply, Bolin stated that he received an email at the outside.com domain in 2021 that was intended for Outside Interactive’s CEO, Robin Thurston. He forwarded the email to Thurston. Bolin states that Thurston responded to the email by demanding that he sell the domain to the firm, and Bolin refused.
In September 2023, Bolin received the first of a string of offers for the domain through a GoDaddy broker. A $75,000 offer quickly escalated to $1.3 million, then $2.5 million, and then $5 million. Bolin turned down all of the offers without counteroffering.
The Godaddy broker then asked Bolin if he would sell the domain if, hypothetically, the party agreed to pay $25 million. Bolin stated he would.
The deal never happened, and Bolin suspects Outside Interactive was the potential buyer.
It was only following the transaction went stale that Bolin had his investment banker reach out to Outside Interactive, and the parties unsuccessfully negotiated for the sale of the domain.
Outside Interactive was able to get the judge to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (pdf) that requires Bolin to cease using the domain and refrain from selling or transferring the domain name.
Bolin argued that Outside Interactive’s “misleading and fabricated facts” don’t warrant a preliminary injunction, and the case ought to be dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction in Colorado, where Outside Interactive is based and the case was filed.
