Hypothetical DRS Situation

GeoMal · 15-09-2011, 09:41:02 AM

A *friend* has noticed the following. He owns a geo EMD of a town name, let's call it townname.co.uk. A well known free local newspaper owned by a large newspaper group operates a website on townname-genericword.co.uk. This does not correspond to the name of the newspaper and there is no registered trademark, nor do the words actually appear on the website, which is branded using the newspaper name.

However, they had not registered townnamegenericword.co.uk (no hyphen).

The friend proposes registering this and redirecting type in traffic to a relevant page on his geodomain (there is a very relevant page).

Asking for trouble? Could you resist?

Sean · 17-09-2011, 02:21:12 PM

You're all but admitting yourself that this would be an abusive registration so personally I'd save myself a whole heap of trouble and not bother.

bensd · 17-09-2011, 02:40:51 PM

Agreed, not worth the hassle.

GeoMal · 17-09-2011, 03:01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sean

You're all but admitting yourself that this would be an abusive registration so personally I'd save myself a whole heap of trouble and not bother.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bensd

Agreed, not worth the hassle.

Thanks. Your are both correct I know, but it is sooo tempting, in a mischievous sort of way.

invincible · 17-09-2011, 03:13:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeoMal

Thanks. Your are both correct I know, but it is sooo tempting, in a mischievous sort of way.

As with all of these mystery domain name questions, it depends what the generic word is. If it were "news" or "property", for example, I cannot realistically see a problem. Both of those suffixing a town name could be of legitimate interest to multiple parties.

bensd · 17-09-2011, 03:33:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by invincible

As with all of these mystery domain name questions, it depends what the generic word is. If it were "news" or "property", for example, I cannot realistically see a problem. Both of those suffixing a town name could be of legitimate interest to multiple parties.

Even if it was registered specifically to benefit from lost traffic of the competitors domain?

aZooZa · 18-09-2011, 06:30:41 AM

My view: if it's an exact EMD of the town, then your friend can do what he likes with it.

GeoMal · 18-09-2011, 09:15:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by invincible

As with all of these mystery domain name questions, it depends what the generic word is. If it were "news" or "property", for example, I cannot realistically see a problem. Both of those suffixing a town name could be of legitimate interest to multiple parties.

The generic word is "today".

They use townname-today.co.uk, but this is not the name of the newspaper.

namealot · 18-09-2011, 11:17:55 AM

If they don�t own a trademark, not trading as the hyphenated name etc then they have no more right than anyone else,,, There are dozens that I can think of straight away that are using �town today� the combination comes up a lot, Doesn�t stop them trying for DRS though but certainly doesn�t mean they�d win ? I�d register away if it will bring in revenue etc

bensd · 18-09-2011, 12:35:09 PM

Even if the phrase is generic wouldn't the registration be seen as abusive because it has been solely registred to be used as a "typo" of the competitor?

15-09-2011, 09:41:02 AM	#1 (permalink)
GeoMal Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 453 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 14)	Hypothetical DRS Situation A friend has noticed the following. He owns a geo EMD of a town name, let's call it townname.co.uk. A well known free local newspaper owned by a large newspaper group operates a website on townname-genericword.co.uk. This does not correspond to the name of the newspaper and there is no registered trademark, nor do the words actually appear on the website, which is branded using the newspaper name. However, they had not registered townnamegenericword.co.uk (no hyphen). The friend proposes registering this and redirecting type in traffic to a relevant page on his geodomain (there is a very relevant page). Asking for trouble? Could you resist?

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17-09-2011, 02:21:12 PM	#2 (permalink)
Sean Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Withnell, Lancashire Posts: 1,225 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 42)	You're all but admitting yourself that this would be an abusive registration so personally I'd save myself a whole heap of trouble and not bother.

17-09-2011, 02:40:51 PM	#3 (permalink)
bensd Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 4,145 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 97)	Agreed, not worth the hassle.

18-09-2011, 06:30:41 AM	#7 (permalink)
aZooZa Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3,980 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 46)	My view: if it's an exact EMD of the town, then your friend can do what he likes with it.

18-09-2011, 11:17:55 AM	#9 (permalink)
namealot Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 976 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 6)	If they don�t own a trademark, not trading as the hyphenated name etc then they have no more right than anyone else,,, There are dozens that I can think of straight away that are using �town today� the combination comes up a lot, Doesn�t stop them trying for DRS though but certainly doesn�t mean they�d win ? I�d register away if it will bring in revenue etc

18-09-2011, 12:35:09 PM	#10 (permalink)
bensd Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Wiltshire, UK Posts: 4,145 No Classified Ratings Domain Trader Rating: (100% / 97)	Even if the phrase is generic wouldn't the registration be seen as abusive because it has been solely registred to be used as a "typo" of the competitor?