Selling a Domain Name

[A.N.Other]

I have been approached by an American company that has moved its products into the UK. I bought their UK web address(...co.uk) in January 2002 as I was selling their US products & started up a website. I no longer sell their goods as I couldn't get them any more .

Anyway, I kept the web address as it was only £50 every 2 years to maintain it & pointed it towards my main site for nearly 6 years.

So, I've had an email asking if they could contact me regarding this. So, quick question(s) - can I sell this web address to them & more importantly, have I just been keeping this web address warm for them & it is legally theirs to take/sue me for?

If I can sell it - what do I do?

It's similar to having www.pepsi.co.uk or www.budweiser.co.uk (for example - could only think of US drinks!)

Any advice would be gratefully received.

[jamesuk28]

Yes you can sell it, simple process of changing the IPS TAG, reg details and transferring.

It would all depend on what the domain name was / product. If it is a generic term ie cheapbeer then you are OK, if its a trade name ie Budweiser then you maybe on shaky ground.Without more detail its hard to say.

[JustinP1]

jamesuk28 said:

Yes you can sell it, simple process of changing the IPS TAG, reg details and transferring.

It would all depend on what the domain name was / product. If it is a generic term ie cheapbeer then you are OK, if its a trade name ie Budweiser then you maybe on shaky ground.Without more detail its hard to say.

Agreed.

If it is their company name then it becomes a lot more one sided. The authority who control the domain names seem to state that although you can in effect buy a name from them it is not 'yours'. Basically this is to stop people speculating and buying up domain names they know full well they will never use, they have just bought up a bank of them to speculate they may be worth something to the company who's name they have used or used a derivative of.

This case is slightly different as you did actively use the name for some time. Similarly, rather than start a legal battle it is my guess that the american company would rather just buy it off you.

Thinking strategically you now have a few options as to a way forward - maybe you could keep ownership and in effect lease it to them? Or just put the ball in their court as say "Make me an offer!".

Either way, you are at a bit of a hiding to nothing as as it stands the domain name is worthless as it stands and the only value it has is how much the american company is willing to pay for it and whether it is more worht their while challenging your ownership so it may pay not to be *too* ballsy.

[rpguk]

Yup, sounds very much like they'll have no trouble getting name if it goes to resolution, you may be pushed for costs too. As a .co.uk it'll go via nominet see here for more info - http://www.nominet.org.uk/disputes/

However that can be expensive and time consuming and the IT guys might not want a bollocking for not registering the name first anyway. I'd be surprised if they gave you anything more then a couple of hundread before going to nominet instead. They might resent paying a penny and send you a ceist and desist letter.

If I were you I'd call them up and get a feel as to how they are approaching the situation. Anything you send by email/post can be used against you.

[jconsta6]

If it is something like "Budweiser", then it will also be a registered trademark to the company which opens up another can of worms.

I know of people who have owned registered trademarked urls, and usually the company will make one nice approach and then it's passed to their legal team, who come down very hard with a "give it us now, or we'll take you to court with our very expensive law team and send you the bill when you fail to beat us" type letter.

My, rather unprofessional advice, would be to be nice, get a feel, see what they offer, nock it back, and accept the next offer and walk away smiling.

As already said though if you are using it and its NOT a trademark, and you want to keep it you may have grounds to.

Thanks

JC

[M400 NBL]

Check out www.acorndomains.co.uk

Personally I would ask them to make an offer and take it from there.

I often wonder why American companies don't pay a few extra dollars/year for a .co.uk

If you want me to ask the question on Acorn, let me know. Otherwise check out the "domain name disputes" forum or search for "drs"

Best of luck

[A.N.Other]

Thank you for all of your advice, I have rung them this morning & asked them to make an offer. It was a very friendly conversation & the chap said he'd come back to me with a reasonable offer in the next few days.

I don't know why US companies don't buy the UK equivalent either, I certainly bought the .com equivalent when I started up.

Fingers crossed, I'll let you know what the outcome is.

[insurance_jon]

search google for the dispute regarding fsa.co.uk. it will answer all your questions

[superlightr]

any further developments, have you retired to somewhere hot and sunny with the sale?

[A.N.Other]

Sold it for £750.00. Thanks for all of your advice.

[timskipper]

Good result - well done!

[Golfman]

What was the name?

[M400 NBL]

Nice one

[superlightr]

well done. If you dont mind, what was the name?

[Naughty Magpie]

Hi, it was me that was selling the name, it was www.burtsbees.co.uk.

Hannah.