What to do when a foreign company registers a .com domain we want

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grimstoner

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I recently did a whois lookup for a .com domain that we intend on using. Barely a week after, a foreign (Chinese) "company" registered the domain.

Do I have any recourse? Can I do anything? Or should I ask them for their exorbitant price for the domain?
 
There is an appeals process. Expect to pay at least $15k in legal and other fees to prove you have a material interest and prior claim to the name, such as an established trademark or product.

Otherwise get another name, or pay them. Ouch.
 
dequadin said:
Appeal what? The OP didn't register the domain, he only intended to. Unless there's some sort of copyright/trademark infringement move on or pay up.
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Trademark only applies in a foreign country if that trademark is well-known there.
But yeah.... since there was only intention and not action, what's the harm/worry? Just register your company as a .com too and pay the R120 or whatever every year :p
 
grimstoner said:
I recently did a whois lookup for a .com domain that we intend on using. Barely a week after, a foreign (Chinese) "company" registered the domain.
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All domain TLD's and ccTLD's are available for anyone to register, on a first-come-first-served basis. Unless you have a registered trademark, which is recognized in that country as well, there's nothing you can do about someone else who has registered your name already.

grimstoner said:
Do I have any recourse? Can I do anything?
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Yes, move on, and find another domain.

grimstoner said:
Or should I ask them for their exorbitant price for the domain?
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You could, but that only shows your desperation. If the domain is really that much worth to you, then go for it. I know many people who've spend thousands & thousands dollars for a domain. You're the only one to decide how much it's worth to you.
 
It just strikes me as odd that a week after I did a lookup, somebody else registers the domain. And it's not exactly a common name, consisting of 3 letters and 3 numbers.
 
grimstoner said:
It just strikes me as odd that a week after I did a lookup, somebody else registers the domain. And it's not exactly a common name, consisting of 3 letters and 3 numbers.
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Been looking at buying a domain for years, some uk company own it (don't use it) and it has nothing to do with what they manufacture but they won't let us have it.
 
Just settle for .co contacting these people is not really an alternative most of them as soon as they know someone is interested in the domain they will constantly up the price
 
Its only worth acquiring the domain if you have an international presence, if you're local only your site should easily be able to outrank the .com version in google. Asking is the equivalent to telling them you have a heap of cash you're looking to depart with....
 
Ipwn 4 said:
Its only worth acquiring the domain if you have an international presence, if you're local only your site should easily be able to outrank the .com version in google. Asking is the equivalent to telling them you have a heap of cash you're looking to depart with....
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International presence? Check
Heap of cash? Check
Willingness to sell? Fail :(
 
grimstoner said:
It just strikes me as odd that a week after I did a lookup, somebody else registers the domain. And it's not exactly a common name, consisting of 3 letters and 3 numbers.
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This happens quite frequently.
 
AstroTurf said:
International presence? Check
Heap of cash? Check
Willingness to sell? Fail :(
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Then you reason to take it to the next step. GoDaddy offers a service where they attemp to contact and negotiate price, this might be a cheap step to take but I'm not sure how effective this is.
 
Ipwn 4 said:
Then you reason to take it to the next step. GoDaddy offers a service where they attemp to contact and negotiate price, this might be a cheap step to take but I'm not sure how effective this is.
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Thanks for the advice :) will try this.
 
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