Nothing Like A Lawsuit To Get The Morning Going

[whittierpc]

LOL

I am still laughing to myself

So I got started in IM last year and registered several domains for projects throughout the year.

I will reveal my niche because I would like some input on the matter from Sensei Terry and Clan.

I got into wet shaving last year and decided hey what the heck let's check out that niche.

So I did some keyword research, and found the keyword "classic shaving"

Good traffic numbers, low competition.. looked good!

I sized up the number one guy and found out they are a company in Palm Springs, Ca and they are in #1 but haven't done much to keep that position over the last 10 years.

They are classicshaving.com

So I registered classicshavingformen.com, I mean women do shave too right?? :)

This niche site was JUST for men... ( sorry ladies)

So 5 months into Blog writing and link building, etc.

I have obtained page 1 for 3-4 keywords !!

SO HAPPY!!

For the keyword "classic shaving" I am in position #5 and sometimes bounce to #4 in GOOGLE!!

Well I have gotten a few sales, and life is GOOD!!

I get to work today and have a certified letter from a Law office...

DUM DUM DUM ( wish I could put sound effects)

The owners of classicshaving.com got their lawyers on me, I am cyber squatting, I am violating US Trademark # 3,550,121, must turn over the domain to them, cease and desist, etc etc.

Now call me stupid, but is it my fault they didn't lock up all the domains names?

I mean obviously they are threatened that in 5 months I did what took them 10 years!!

I almost feel like shutting down the site and starting the same site just under a different domain name and GETTING POSITION #1!!!

What do you guys think?

[angienewton]

I don't really know what to tell you but I wouldn't just give the domain up to them. I imagine you could sell it to them for a really HIGH price LOL I would also do more research because anyone can send a C&D letter from a lawyer.

Wonder what others have to say...this should be interesting!

[whittierpc]

I would agree! Any suite can type up a letter..

I don't intend to just give up the domain without a fight, I just find it funny that they are this threatened..

I had just finished reading a story about a guy who registered meg2010.com and the potential California Canidate for Governor did all kinds of things to this guy and ended up "settling" for a large sum of money

Thanks For Your Opinion!

Most would s*$% getting a letter like this.. I am laughing about it still!

Tells me I picked a good niche... LOL

[Michelle Waters]

I wouldn't laugh just yet. They may very well have a legal leg to stand on, and if they have the funds to persue legal action, this could hurt you worse than moving the site.

Before you do anything, you should contact a lawyer of your own who is familiar with trademark laws.

And read these resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald%27s_legal_cases#Trademark_and_copyright
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark

[whittierpc]

I understand...

Interesting story I read just the other day

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/26/local/la-me-whitman26-2010feb26

Read Page 2

[whittierpc]

The thing that doesn't make sense is they left SO many domains open for registration... WHO DOES THAT?

[cindybidar]

The thing that doesn't make sense is they left SO many domains open for registration... WHO DOES THAT?

I don't think it's reasonable to expect a company to register *every* permutation of their name. Consider classicshaving101.com, classic-shaving-101.com, classicshaving101.net, .org, .me, .us, .info...I'm sure you see my point.

It's unfortunate that you've put so much work into this only to have this happen, but it's not unheard of for companies to seize urls. Check out what happened to this guy: http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/07/apple-domain-names/

The good news is, if you got to the top of the SERPs once, you can do it again. So even if you do lose this one, you know you'll bounce back.

[whittierpc]

Well I didn't mean every domain.. just the obvious ones...

I mean what is to stop any company from going after any affiliate marketer for invading their niche?

Who will stand up against these people??

[Clay Franklin]

It seems they would have done better just trade marking classicshaving instead of classicshaving.com here is the trademark (http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4003:huhn2e.3.2).

Not sure if they have a right to all classicshaving domains or just ones that have classicshaving.com in it. You may be ok. It was there bad to add the .com to the trademark IMO.

Any one want to buy FacebookHandbook.com ? I cannot sell it on SEdo because it is trademarked. ugh I imagine they trademarked facebook and not facebook.com

They own the trademark for classicshaving.com so any domain ending in classicshaving.com is trademarked. like bestclassicshaving.com would be forbidden for sure because it has there exact trademark.

[whittierpc]

You make a VERY interesting point Clay Franklin.. THANK YOU!

I am curious to see where this goes..

[whittierpc]

Someone made another good point to me today... don't trademarks have to have the (tm) on the logo or media??

Like to google logo ... look at it http://bizbox.slate.com/blog/google.jpg