Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New Jersey
trademarks domain name
i purchased a porn domain name at an auction 7 months ago. i received an email from an attorney representing a large corporation. he is claiming that i am smearing his clients companies name. it seems that the first part of the domain name is his clients company and the second part is sex. he sent me an email to ceased and now he wants me to transfer the name to his client. my question is can he demand me to assign the name to his client without compensation? I was using the name as url forwarding to another porn website, which i stopped when he sent me a letter. initially his associate said he was under the impression that they made a cash settlement and he would forward the money and i would assign the name to his client. than he said he made a mistake about the cash and to forward the name immediately or they would come after me.
please help. my understanding is if you purchase the name you're allowed to sell it.
thank you
4 Answers from Attorneys
Re: trademarks domain name
Subject to trademark infringement and dilution lawws, you are allowed to sell a mark you've purchased. They should give you compensation for the mark. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to pursue this matter. I'd be glad to give you a free initial consult. Good luck.
Re: trademarks domain name
Subject to trademark infringement and dilution laws, you are allowed to sell a mark you've purchased. They should give you compensation for the mark. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to pursue this matter. I'd be glad to give you a free initial consult. Good luck.
Re: trademarks domain name
Without knowing all the facts of the case, I can only point you in the right direction. In general where there is alleged dilution of the value of a trademark, prooof must be shown of damages. However, parody in websites such as Kmartsucks.com have been found to be acceptable by the courts. He's hoping that you'll roll over with little compensation. A good value for the basis of negotiation is between 5000 and 10000.
Don't roll over, this is a common scare tactic.
Pat Tracy
Re: trademarks domain name
Take a look at the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), to which you agreed when you registered the domain name. Essentially, if your domain name infringes their trademark (and they can show certain other elements), they can require transfer to them. The UDRP only gets them the name, not damages (I doubt they can recover damages even in court unless they can show actual dilution of their mark - see yesterday's Victoria's Secret case from the Supreme Court). Don't roll over, but if they file suit either in court or with a UDRP arbitration provider, you should consider retaining counsel to defend yourself. We have sucessfully handled a number of these matters.
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