Buying domain names to stop piggy backing?

[truereddevil]

Say you think of a really good domain name do you usually buy up all domain names that sound alike to your domain name to stop other people trying to piggy back off your name so to speak let me show you what i mean for example Phones4U
1.Say Phones4U was the first to purchase this name and that was all they purchased
2.Then another company/person came and purchased PhonesForYou would the company Phones4U be able to take that other company to court or send them a letter saying they cannot use that name


How does it work?


Rick

 

[vvaannmmaann]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passing_off

To summarise.

Don't do it.

 

[sla3]

^ What he said. It might sound like a cute idea, but it's doomed to failure at best, expensive failure at worst.

Even if you are RIGHT (e.g. you were a headphone specialist for years before the mobile 'phone came along) I suspect you might succeed in defending any legal action, but where would you live once you'd had to sell your house to pay the sharks, lawyers I mean?

The output of the justice system is really nothing like the justice the man on the Clapham Omnibus would recognise, for it is almost totally dependent on the input from those with the deepest pockets.

ISTR McDs went after a small Hebridean tweed weaver who had the temerity to use his own name in his website name. I doubt Mr McDonald had ever heard of McD's let alone ever eaten a slurry-burger, yet they went after him. I think he "won" in the sense that he was allowed to use his own name to sell tweed, but as for the cost of money, time and stress .... well, ask Mr McDonald.

 

[truereddevil]

I ain't doing it but i am wanting to stop other people doing it to me so i don't know whether to just by the one .com .co.uk name or the one i want and the other 4 very similar is the advice i am after thanks for your help so far

 

[sla3]

Oh, yes: they are cheap, buy them Why not.

As time goes on, the actual names themselves will become more and more meaningless as the space gets more and more crowded (like facebook user names for John Smith) but in the meantime it can't hurt to buy the cheapest "competing" domains like .com, .xx.uk and so on. And the 4 similar ones? Total cost around £100? If it helps you sleep at night, why not.

 

[JamieM]

I always protect my domains by buying alternative variations and singulars/plurals where I can. Only .com and .co.uk though.

It's a bit of a ball ache if (like me) you register domains based on ideas alone. I have about 300 or so.

You could also consider registering a trademark for your name for added protection.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

300? Blimey!

 

[yourcreditmanager]

I ain't doing it but i am wanting to stop other people doing it to me so i don't know whether to just by the one .com .co.uk name or the one i want and the other 4 very similar is the advice i am after thanks for your help so far

I've done this myself, got the .com, co.uk, org, etc for my company name now. It's straight forward to do, I use www.godaddy.com, who are pretty cheap I think - I recall seeing a post on them earlier today that was offering a discount voucher as well, could be worth checking out maybe...?

Michael

 

[10032012]

I always protect my domains by buying alternative variations and singulars/plurals where I can. Only .com and .co.uk though.

It's a bit of a ball ache if (like me) you register domains based on ideas alone. I have about 300 or so.

You could also consider registering a trademark for your name for added protection.

No Jamie!

There is no protection with a Registered Trademark if you are not actively using it to trade. Many people get confused thinking its purchasing an exclusive right to a word or picture. If you register a trademark... and not use it, someone can come along and either challenge it or ignore it using the same trademark to profit from.

 

[10032012]

I've done this myself, got the .com, co.uk, org, etc for my company name now. It's straight forward to do, I use www.godaddy.com, who are pretty cheap I think - I recall seeing a post on them earlier today that was offering a discount voucher as well, could be worth checking out maybe...?

Michael

Just to add, if you buy in bulk they become slightly cheaper. So it pays to get them all in one go, rather than purchase them later. ALWAYS hunt for discount codes if spending more than £30 on domains. Normally you will save a few quid, you might at times save even more. (25% off etc.)

 

[JamieM]

No Jamie!

There is no protection with a Registered Trademark if you are not actively using it to trade. Many people get confused thinking its purchasing an exclusive right to a word or picture. If you register a trademark... and not use it, someone can come along and either challenge it or ignore it using the same trademark to profit from.

Where is there any suggestion that the trademark will not be used? :|

 

[ben b]

don't use Godaddy they support sopa

 

[Psl]

don't use Godaddy they support sopa

And you think SOPA is a bad thing?

 

[ben b]

Yes, if you are not aware there is a battle for who will control the internet.
the two sides are the big Hollywood and News/TV empires vs New media.

The big corporations don't like the fact they no longer own "communication" And they want it back, Godaddy is in support of this.

Wikipedia spent six months moving their domains away from Godaddy.

Katie Filbert, president of Wikimedia DC, Wikipedia's Washington chapter, says:
"Open internet has always been vital to our goal of empowering
individuals and communities through free access to global knowledge.
While we recognize that copyright holders have legitimate concerns regarding their property rights,
we do not believe that the solution should come on the backs of millions of innocent online users.
Open Internet, like free speech, must always be protected."

 

[Digital Investments]

@OP

If we are thinking of investing in a particular niche for the long term or are building a new brand then yes we buy multiple domains, including foreign domains such as domain.fr, since we are increasingly marketing in international markets.

What really frustrates me to the core are the domainers who buy multiple domains with the only goal of holding you to ransom and selling them for an unearthly sum. How are they adding any value? They don't.

 

[RevaxMedia]

Oh, yes: they are cheap, buy them Why not.

As time goes on, the actual names themselves will become more and more meaningless as the space gets more and more crowded (like facebook user names for John Smith) but in the meantime it can't hurt to buy the cheapest "competing" domains like .com, .xx.uk and so on. And the 4 similar ones? Total cost around £100? If it helps you sleep at night, why not.

We are doing this now with Godaddy if you buy a domain name they will sell you like 7-8 variations for around £17.50 per year. Some people don't like Godaddy, I know but it's cheap. I also have a 32% off voucher if anyone wants it?

 

[sla3]

We are doing this now with Godaddy if you buy a domain name they will sell you like 7-8 variations for around £17.50 per year. Some people don't like Godaddy, I know but it's cheap. I also have a 32% off voucher if anyone wants it?

Nice deal.

I don't think it matters over much who you use to register your domain through, as long as you have access to all the technical features you might need. I've used fasthosts, 123-hosts, moonfruit and recently dream-hosting (with whom I am quite impressed). Hosting is a very different matter, though.

You do have to watch the renewal costs though - always (in my experience_ much more than the initial purchase. Do you happen to know what godaddy might charge for bulk renewal of the variants?

 

[HTMLHugo]

interesting one

recently (december a company sprang up called say for eg : UKmoomins.com selling the same product as me and im trading as MoominsUK.co.uk

the new company makes a hash of it using one of the voucher companies takes thousands of orders and then delivers on 10%

because of the confusion i am getting lots of complains regarding ukmoomins.com thinking i am them.

i dont know if there is anything i can do about it though?. I have been trading for 2.5 years now using my domain name.

 

[sla3]

It'd probably cost you too much to pursue any action aginst the otehr moomins, although it seems at first sight to be an obvious case of passsing off. Just what IS a moomin, anyway?

All you can realistically do, I fear, is dissociate yourself from the other company on, say, your website and other promotional material.

"Please note we are not and never have been associated in any way with 'the other moomins' If you need to contact them you can do so here (address, phone numbers, email etc). Obviousness these names are very similar, but we have been trading since mm/yy whereas the other moomins, as far as we can tell, began trading in yy/mm. "

Or somesuch

 

[HTMLHugo]

Hi Yes

I have done but even yesterday somebody from the voucher company emailed me asking me to refund some money to their customer. They also told me about the 90% failure rate.

I have a very clear we are Moomins UK not UK Moomins message I posted on twitter / facebook.

Im just more gutted that they are trashing my name which i have built up.

Moomin down below btw (no moomins were hurt during this forum chat and have relevance to what i do for a living or the name of my websites)

It'd probably cost you too much to pursue any action aginst the otehr moomins, although it seems at first sight to be an obvious case of passsing off. Just what IS a moomin, anyway?

All you can realistically do, I fear, is dissociate yourself from the other company on, say, your website and other promotional material.

"Please note we are not and never have been associated in any way with 'the other moomins' If you need to contact them you can do so here (address, phone numbers, email etc). Obviousness these names are very similar, but we have been trading since mm/yy whereas the other moomins, as far as we can tell, began trading in yy/mm. "

Or somesuch