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Who owns domain name?

by MemberWing
19 replies
Employee was told his employment is terminating soon but he can start working on his own as a reseller for the company.
While still being employed employee registered domain name and built website for his own reseller activities.
Reseller business was doing ok but after 1 year he lost interest and decided to sell site.

Weirdness #1 - company refused to buy his site/domain but threaten lawsuit if he'd sell it to competition. They stated he cannot do that because he registered domain name while still being employed.

Weirdness #2: Employee offered to give up this site+domain to the company for free - but they didn't take it. President told him to put all links from this site to the company site. But didn't express desire to take ownership of site/domain.

If he still sells it to competition - can they come after him because he registered it during employment time?

Domain name does not include any copyright/trademarks but was registered during his employment.
#domain #owns
  • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
    I think it depends on two things:

    1) Does he have an employment agreement with the company (non-compete, etc)?

    2) Did he register the domain in the company's name or using their money? Would the company have assumed legal risk for an action brought against the domain owner?
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    • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
      Non compete wouldn't come into play here. Selling the domain to someone else is not him competing with them.

      Originally Posted by Ron Douglas View Post

      I think it depends on two things:
      1) Does he have an employment agreement with the company (non-compete, etc)
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      • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
        Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

        Non compete wouldn't come into play here. Selling the domain to someone else is not him competing with them.
        I'm not a lawyer, but I think if he is compensated for selling an asset that can be used to compete with the company, the non-compete may be relevant. I could be wrong though.
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      • Profile picture of the author Bill Farnham
        Originally Posted by Johnny Slater View Post

        Non compete wouldn't come into play here. Selling the domain to someone else is not him competing with them.
        Not necessarily true in all cases. Without access to the documents between the parties no one here can say with authority what the limitations specify.

        And even then...

        ~Bill
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnny Slater
    If he paid for the domain with his own money and it is registered in his name then he owns it and can do what he wants with it. If his employer doesn't want the domain they can't stop him from selling it to anyone else he wants.

    The only way they would have any standing is if they purchased the domain for him, or he registered it in the employers name.
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  • Profile picture of the author Tim Franklin
    There is one other situation, that could come into play here, and that is if the employee, spent any of his "paid" time developing the website, and or was paid for performing work on this own website, then there could be a claim...

    Good advise here, is to get some good advise from a professional in the field, if it is not worth say a 100 dollar fee, to a lawyer, then it is not worth pursuing.

    Just a thought, but for sure, see the disclaimer below,

    We are not lawyers, this is not legal advise...
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    • Profile picture of the author Ron Douglas
      Originally Posted by Tim Franklin View Post

      We are not lawyers, this is not legal advise...
      Exactly. None of this is legal advice. We are not prohibited from answering the question though.
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    • Profile picture of the author greff
      Originally Posted by Tim Franklin View Post

      There is one other situation, that could come into play here, and that is if the employee, spent any of his "paid" time developing the website, and or was paid for performing work on this own website, then there could be a claim...

      Good advise here, is to get some good advise from a professional in the field, if it is not worth say a 100 dollar fee, to a lawyer, then it is not worth pursuing.

      Just a thought, but for sure, see the disclaimer below,

      We are not lawyers, this is not legal advise...

      I will echo what Tim said. Chances are the owner (or whoever made the decision) consulted with an attorney. Generally, companies will not do things they know is illegal. Just as BP. ;P
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      • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
        Originally Posted by greff View Post

        Generally, companies will not do things they know is illegal.
        Generally, company owners assume that whatever they want is right - and explaining why is the lawyer's problem.
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        • Profile picture of the author MemberWing
          Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

          Generally, company owners assume that whatever they want is right - and explaining why is the lawyer's problem.
          Generally if anyone wants anything they start with asking. In this [weird] case corporation said they *don't want* this, but will punish person if he do anything with this.
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  • Profile picture of the author MemberWing
    Thanks everyone for thoughts and answers.
    No company funds was spent on this. All on employee's terms, resources and ideas. All on his name and all on his money.
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  • Profile picture of the author wiseleo
    He owns the name.

    If there are no trademark violations, nothing they can do really.

    Example:

    I am working for a techblog.com, and I register xxxhotchicks.com while I am at work. Should the company have a claim to the hot chicks name? No. Why should they have a claim on any other name that does not infringe on their trademark? Am I now obligated to maintain registration perpetually so the competitors do not pick the name after expiration?

    Umm... sell it for an amount sufficient to hire decent legal counsel to tell them to go to hell and move on.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Tell the employee to take the advice in this thread - and then hide where he can't find you with a subpoena

      Only answer - talk to a lawyer to see what his rights are.
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  • Profile picture of the author ozduc
    I think you (sorry, the employee) should take all the advice here with a grain of salt and seek the advice of an attorney.
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  • Profile picture of the author Underground SEO
    Time to consult a lawyer I feel
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Originally Posted by MemberWing View Post

      Thanks everyone for thoughts and answers.
      No company funds was spent on this. All on employee's terms, resources and ideas. All on his name and all on his money.
      Well, I agree with the "consult with a lawyer" - but based on what you wrote here, if the guy's no compete clause has run out and the company name is not being used in the domain then I would guess they have no say in the matter.

      Typically, there is a time limit that says "you may not work for another company in the same business for x amount of time after leaving"

      If he signed something like this and it has expired, and the site created was all on his own resources, then he should be clear.

      But again, I'm not a lawyer.

      It was nice of him to offer it up to the company. Perhaps there is someone else still working for the company on a lower level who would like to take it over?
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  • Profile picture of the author Rob Barbour
    If the domain name has the company's name in it or has any of their trademarks in the domain, then he has problems. This is amplified if my first statement is true and they tried to sell it back to the company.

    If none of this is true, they're not infringing on any agreements/trademarks/copyrights, and there's nothing tied to the company, then they're fine. I think they should at least get legal advice if the site/domain has real value. If the value is less than the cost of an attorney visit, then just walk away.

    Like someone said - without all of the details and documents involved we can't say for sure.

    BTW - I own many thousands of domains and have been dealing with similar situations for 10+ years.
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  • Profile picture of the author E. Brian Rose
    Was there an employee agreement that stated that everything he creates during employment time is property of the company? A lot of IT companies have this agreement with their employees. It keeps them from saving the good stuff for their own side business.
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