Legal Question in Technology Law in California
internet domain ownership, trademark
my company has performed IT services for a dotcom company over the last year. This company owes us a lot of money($20k), but it is unable and unwilling to pay us.
we are listed as the administrative contact for their internet domain and would be able to transfer their domain name to our company.
the current status of their trademark registration for the domain name is ''dead'', it expired a few years ago.
Would it be legal for us to apply for the trademark with the USPTO and then transfer the domain name to our company? (since we then own the trademark)
The dotcom's company name is different from the domain name, would it help if we create a company named after the domain name, so that company name, internet domain and trademark registration have the exact same name?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: internet domain ownership, trademark
If you did all this, would it help you get paid? I.e., is the domain name itself valuable? Each individual step you propose looks legal on its surface, but the whole process might amount to a business tort such as "interference with prospective economic advantage" if the net effect were to harm their business prospects.
Wouldn't it be safer to sue for the unpaid amount, win in court (possibly by default judgment), then levy on the intellectual property?
Your proposal also raises the possibility that the company might file for bankruptcy and the transfer would be set aside by the court or trustee as an impermissible preference.
I will be looking at your question in a couple days to see if any other LawGuru attorneys have given their opinions. This is an interesting issue and I'm not entirely sure what might happen.
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