6 ms·
While it is an unwinnable case, there is a positive dollar amount to settling out of court.
by koheripbal 6y ago
While it is an unwinnable case, there is a positive dollar amount to settling out of court.
- benatkin 6y agoEspecially if you have a cute story like the MikeRoweSoft guy did.
- CydeWeys 6y agoHe bought mikerowesoft.com though, not microsoft.soy. It would not have ended the way it did if he'd bought the latter. His case was a lot less clear cut than a blatant exact string match on an unambiguous trademark. Also, Mike Rowe is actually his name; Netflix is not this guy's name.
- SilasX 6y agoI think Nissan.com is more illustrative -- it was a guy named Nissan[1] who had an actual computer business in his name and got to keep it away from Nissan Motors, but now his site has a lot more to do bragging about his fight with the motor company than actual computer stuff. [1] Hebrew/Israeli name usually transliterated as "Nisan"
- ksec 6y agoInteresting, why doesn't Nissan motor just paid more money say a million for it? Surely they can afford it.
- andiamo 6y agoTook a quick look at the case. I'm guessing some corp lawyer, maybe even general counsel, didn't have enough "real work" to do and needed to make a name for himself. Then it became a giant d* measuring contest. Source: Went to law school. Never practiced though.
- CydeWeys 6y agoThey got bad self-serving advice from lawyers. A lawyer doesn't get paid much if all they do is write up a contract for a private agreement to buy a domain, but they get paid a lot if the disagreement goes to trial instead.
- Zecc 6y agoIn case you've never heard of them: https://microsoft-informatica.com/ https://microsoft-informatica.com/ Yes, they were here first.
- CydeWeys 6y agoNo there isn't. Companies won't pay you money for having cybersquatted on their obvious trademark. You'll lose the domain flat out through UDRP. The best outcome that can happen to you if you find yourself in such a situation is that you relinquish the domain name for free and nothing further comes from it.
- throwaway373438 6y agoArbitration through UDRP is expensive, both in terms of process costs and employee time. A reasonable company would probably pay more than registration costs to avoid it.
- praptak 6y agoNot if you take into account that they also want to deter future cybersquatting.
- throwaway373438 6y agoCovering actual costs without significant profit is a deterrent. If it costs $20 to register and you ask for $30 I think you're likely to get it.
- CydeWeys 6y agoYou're underestimating how much value there is to companies in setting precedent on defending their trademark with an easy and practically guaranteed win. Companies need to proactively defend their trademark when it's being infringed upon or they risk losing it, and this is a really easy way to defend it.
- znpy 6y agoThe precedent is already established, you're missing the point: in order to enforce such precedent you have to go to court anyway. And that costs money.
- executesorder66 6y ago