Intellectual Property on Domain Names

Frank Rizzo

I will change the names of the domain to protect against any issues if it went to court

Hi all....

Lets say i own a company "www.davesaudio.ie" and one of the audio products i sell is a Sony X500, a well known audio product from Sony.. I then go and find that the domain "www.sonyx500.ie" is available, so i buy it and point the domain name to "www.davesaudio.ie" as i feel that it will generate extra traffic to my site ( eg, someone in Ireland specifically types into google "sony x500" )

I then get a letter from Sony, stating that i have no right to "www.sonyx500.ie", and that i need to hand over the domain or they will take me to court to get the name back... PS, they also offered me €500 for the domain name in the same email lol.. which i know is not allowed ( not allowed to sell a .ie ) so i wouldn't do it anyway.. but have given me a dead line of ten days to decide..

so my questions are ( i will call a solicitor too, but just wondering if anyone has seen this before )
do sony have more of a right to the domain than me?
, have they got a good case to get it back?
Or if i show that i bought it for the purpose of driving ppl to my site to purse sony x500 specific products, ill have a good case too??

Thanks in advance...
:D

NoQuarter

Well, as per the charter you cant seek legal advice here.

Just a general observation on your post though:

1. You can sell a .ie domain, there are just a few hoops to jump through first (Sony would have to show the registry that they have a business etc etc).

Farcear

".ie" domain name disputes are handled by the IE Domain Registry.

The test for "losing" a domain name is here:

1.1.1 a domain name is identical or misleadingly similar to a Protected Identifier in which the Complainant has rights; and
1.1.2 the Registrant has no rights in law or legitimate interests in respect of a domain name; and
1.1.3 a domain name has been registered or is being used in bad faith.

http://www.domainregistry.ie/index.php/mnudisres/mnupolicy


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In this hypothetical example:

1. The domain name is similar to Sony's trademark;
2. You don't own a "Sony" trademark;
3. You admitted bad faith to boost revenue.

You lose the domain name.

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More broadly, using tags, embedded coding or any other tricks to try and drive traffic by using other people's trademarks is generally prohibited.

The trademark hold could seek further damages off you too.

jhegarty

Unless you gave a few million in the bank I would hand it over.

Don't take the €500 offer, it's a common plot as it this can be used to prove you registered the name to extort money from Sony.

Frank Rizzo

thanks guys....:D

Frank Rizzo

well if i was to sell it..... i bought it with the idea of driving customers to my site for the purpose of selling sonyx500... so i never intended to use it for "extorting" money... but if they offer to buy the domain off me i dont see the problem...??

Victor

Say you aren't really interested in the money and why not ask them can some marketing effort be done instead to drive sales to your site. Assuming you are a bona fide Sony vendor.

Frank Rizzo

thanks victor... good idea... plus i would be a sony vendor ( name changed )

thanks