I'm not at all an expert at this sort of thing, but if it's their trademark they within their rights to protect it.

Personally, I'd rather be paid for it then sued in a fight I couldn't win. I wouldn't advise asking for more money, either.

Yes...they can! Don't even ask for a lot of $$$! Just take what they offer and be thankful that it won't get ugly!

Yea, Amazon's going to get what they want either way. The fact that they're willing to pay for it and didn't just send a notice of seizure is actually surprising to me. Take the money and run before Jeff Bezos hears that he won't get to have his way with some poor sap in a court room.

This sort of thing can be immensely frustrating, but welcome to Capitalism. Money = Power.

I would get a free consultation with a lawyer and see what your options are. Maybe you can get a lot more then they are offering initially...

I agree with the lawyer consult. There are some unknowns here that could favor your friend. One question is, how long has he had the domain and how long has Amazon had the trademarked name in question. If your friend had the domain before the trademark was issued he might be sitting pretty.

In every threat, there is opportunity - to make money in this particular case! More so when the domain is not even parked.
This open another new sprestrum of opportunity to prosper with the internet - domain sales by 'accidentally' misusing trademarks-related names or in fact is already happening w/o us noticing......

Neil, ask yr friend to take whatever from Amazon and relate it in a eBook, that's what i'll do.

"I am not a lawyer" but if I was at his position and I didn't register this domain to sell it for amazon, neither did I know it was a product or something for Amazon then I would register a trademark for that domain and keep it with me and show them I have it tradermarked...

It is a personal preference, do you want to fight with them ? courts? for me if I feel I didn't do something wrong then yes I will go to court but that means alot of $$ and a big chance to lose, I know I didn't register this domain because it was for amazon..it just happened that they had a product , I don't like to be bullied because they have money and they can take me to court so they get what they want...

Hey guys thanks for your comments, you've raised some good points that I can pass on.

Cheers
Neil

Well, maybe your friend can make out as well as Mike Rowe, who got an XBox out of Microsoft.

Linkie: Microsoft vs MikeRoweSoft

Peace

Be a good friend and tell him to walk away.

(I'm not a lawyer, etc)

Your friend has never used the domain. I've seen cases where companies have trademarked something AFTER somebody else had the domain name, but, because they took action and the domain owner didn't, the latter lost the domain.

As one previous post said, take the money and run before they change their mind.

Martin

I vote to take the money and run as well. One thing you have to keep in mind is that a company like Amazon probably has top notch lawyers who can bury you even if you have the advantage at first.

At the very least, they can bury your friend by shipping a whole bunch of outdated books to his house!

1. Yes.

2. No. Take the offer. They didn't even have to do that.

I may be in this exact same situation - I have an Amazon word in my domain - possibly the same word!!!
I am using the site and making a little bit of money from it. Maybe Amazon wants your friend's domain because it is not in use. Hopefully they will leave mine alone because I am actively helping to sell their Amazon product, at least a few of them.
If I did get this type of notice I would take the money and run. I am in no position to butt heads with Amazon. I would just more on. If they offer me any money I would feel fortunate.

I'd take the offer and run.

It's going to get very expensive in the court room and Amazon has much deeper pockets than your friend. Usually if they own the trademark unless your friend can conclusively prove that the domain was registered in good faith to do nothing associated with the trade mark he'll lose and be left with an expensive legal bill.

Amazon have been generous and offered him some money - it's more than they needed to, so I'd say thank you for much and hand the domain and then go pursue other fish in the sea.

Cheers

Jason

Neil,
It would be interesting if you let us know what your frind decides and how it works out for him. Thanks - David

Just a quick update guys....he took the cash!

I think he did the right thing, it'll pay for a good holiday or something, many thanks for your input!

Cheers
Neil

I personally would take the money and walk away, a company like Amazon has MASSIVE resources that could count in their favour which could tie you up in legal proceedings for years if you decide to try to keep something like this, Nissan.com is still being contested after years.

Of course I do not know all the details but I do not know of any product at all that has Amazon as a name other than what is associated with the online store so it isn't to my mind like it could be a mistake that it was registered...while it may have been registered before said product arrived on the scene there is a case for them to say that their name was linked to a random, lets say "computer handheld book" product (when you don't know the name of it previously) and just registered it speculatively.

Lets take Nissan.com again as an example, they do not make trucks right now, but I am betting quite a good case could be made if someone randomly registered NissanTrucks.com and sat on it for the future; see what i am saying?

Of course you can choose to fight them, I would say John Berryhill Esq. is a good domain lawyer and he could advise you far better than here but if they want to give money for something that is not even in use then why not?

I'd take it to court and fight it regardless of circumstances; but that is just because I want to be an individual.

Amazon is being gracious offering a small amount of money. They don't have to offer anything. They can of course take the domain from him and they could also sue him if they wanted to.

Asking for any money at all proves bad faith registration in a UDRP so I'd advise that he either take the small amount ... or what I would do is ... I would hand over the domain to Amazon. It is their trademark.

I would at least find out what my options really were before taking action. Seek out a copyright/trademark lawyer and ask.

If you don't, you will never find out....

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Hey not an expert here but since that name is a part of their trademark/sign/diret company name etc... they can and willl sue you .

My opinnion ... take the money and run

Yep - take the money (however much it is) and run! Your friend should be focusing on his business

That's funny. I would take the money. A bird in the hand is better than two in the bush.

I had a game developing company contact me a couple months ago and ask for the domain I grabbed when I saw they launched a new company. I had purchased "xyz games dot com" (where xyz was their name) and they offered me $300 for it. I sold right away.

I also had Amazon email and ask for a domain that had their name in it. They said they would have to suspend my amazon account if I didn't turn their name over. I didn't quite get so lucky in this case.. maybe if I hadn't had Amazon ads on it, it would have worked out better for me. But... I gave in and gave it back to them.

I think this applies here:

http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...al-advice.html

But basically- nobody in here can really tell you. Personally- I'd just take the money- its not worth getting sued over a domain name.

I say ask for the money

It could no doubt go both ways, if its under trade mark rights. Then it turn into a mean situation! But if not, i would haggle them to death for a bigger offer!

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