Domain dispute!

warwickw

warwickw

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I'd like to hear your comments on this.

A friend bought a co.za domain in August 2009, now 8 months later the domain is number 1 on google page ranks thanks to his work on it, he receives an email from someone claiming to be the previous owner of the domain, and they want it back so he must surrender it or face the zadna dispute process.

My advise to him was, to politely tell the person to go take a hike for the following reasons :

1) he is not cyber squating on a trade mark,
2) he purchased the domain legitimately and is running a legitimate service on it,
3) "if" they were the owners of the domain, why did they ignore the 6 emails from Uniforum, plus they ignored the 3 month suspension that the domain would have been under prior to being deleted from the registry.

Is there anything else he should be doing?
 
He should quickly do a company name reservation with Cipro as well unless the other guy already has a business operating under the same name as the domain. That way there is no chance he will have to give it up.
 
tell the dude to get lost, and then swear at him just for fun- he is just taking a chance- if you fail to renew your domain, you forfeit the right to it.

UniForum SA expects all domain name Applicant's to settle outstanding registration fees within 30 days after registration (clause 3.1). Should the Applicant neglect to do so, he/she runs the risk of loosing the domain name due to deletion. Parties that are interested in obtaining the domain name are welcome to monitor its Billing Status, and to apply for the registration of the domain name as soon as it reverts back into the public domain due to deletion. These domain names will be allocated on a "first come first served" basis
Click to expand...

http://co.za/legal-FAQ.shtml
 
warwickw said:
he receives an email from someone claiming to be the previous owner of the domain, and they want it back so he must surrender it or face the zadna dispute process.
Click to expand...
I have had a few people try that scare tactic on me too. The domain dispute process requires the disputing party to prove that they have a claim to the name (ie trademark, company reg, etc). It also requires (IIRC) that they prove that the domain is being used in bad faith to take unfair advantage of an existing name.

If your friend has made legitimate use of the domain on its own merit without taking advantage of the previous owner's name then they will have a very tough time getting the domain from you.
 
Nah the oke is taking a fat chanche... if he didn't renew it he has no stake in it . . . .
 
I believe the guy is taking a fat chance.

He's now saying but he did pay Uniforum to renew the domain, they just didn't pick up the payment and allocate it. hmmm this is starting to smell some more.

So he basically let the domain be deleted, ie it was suspended for 3 months, and then it was registered by my friend for 8 months now, so for over a year he did nothing about it, and now that the domain is number 1 in Google page rankings he wants it... FAT CHANCER..
 
warwickw said:
....and now that the domain is number 1 in Google page rankings he wants it...
Click to expand...

Are you sure that's the reason why he wants the domain back? I have multiple domains ranking first on Google on under a variety of different keywords and phrases. Domains so broad that any company related to that very service can come forth and 'dispute' the domain. What is the domain if i may ask?

And also, even IF ANYONE tries to dispute ANY of MY domains, I would follow ave's advice which is:

tell the dude to get lost, and then swear at him just for fun- he is just taking a chance- if you fail to renew your domain, you forfeit the right to it.
Click to expand...
 
unless the "previous owner" has a trademark that uses that domain, or closely resembles it, he may not win the case.

On the other hand if he has some form of proof that it was his domain previously, i.e. invoices dating back to before when you had it, clearly showing the domain, then you could easily loose it. Then, changes are, they / his laywer will take it to court and win the case.

For example, if the domain had anything todo with coke - say http://www.sniffcoke.co.za then Coka Cola could legally take that domain and you have no say as it's against their trademark infringement, even if the website was in use for a year or 5 and had no relationship with Coka Cola at all.

So, rather check with your laywer and be sure.
 
Just tell them to go head and lodge the dispute and that you believe you are the rightful owner of the domain. See a lawyer only when the dispute process is lodged and you have the relevant communication. It might just be scare tactics that they're using and it might even been a scam. Next they'll tell you they'll resolve for payment or some such nonsense.
 
Well the good news for your friend is that the "claimant" has to pay for all costs and using hte zadna adr process he can't be held liable for any costs/damages.
 
Thanks for the input guys! If anything develops will let you all know. But I somehow suspect nothing more will come of this, as they have no grounds to claim the domain.
 
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