Buying competitors domain extensions

[woffer]

If my biggest competitor has a domain like laddersforhome.co.uk but has not registered the .com, could you see the value in doing so?

Or would it open up world of hassle?

Thank you

Jon

 

[wb]

Are they using the .co.uk or do they just have it registered and sitting there idle? Secondly, is the phrase purely generic and does it have any value on it's own without the competitor having registered the .co.uk (such a reasonable amount of local exacts etc)?

 

[woffer]

The keyword gets 200 local exacts and yes they are definitely using the .co.uk. i will pm you the domain if that is ok and see what you think

 

[AuthorityDomain]

Check for trademark too

Not sure I'd bother with 200 exacts though. Depends if you think you can sell to the current owners to make a profit.

 

[Aaron Clifford]

The 200 exacts are probably for that company!

 

[inbound]

If you are in the UK (and probably many other places), doing what you suggest could end you up in court for Passing Off (getting sued, costing lots in legal fees and possibly damages).

If the domain is not generic you are probably looking at the type in value, which is simply confusion about the correct web address of a legitimate entity - think about that from a point of view of the other company and what their legal folks will see it as.

Re this:

Depends if you think you can sell to the current owners to make a profit.

I thought we all understood the damage that type of action (cybersquatting) has had on the domaining industry. Buying a domain only for the purpose of selling to a company that uses a different extension is not the type of thing any member should be doing or suggesting.

 

[wb]

If you are in the UK (and probably many other places), doing what you suggest could end you up in court for Passing Off (getting sued, costing lots in legal fees and possibly damages).

If the domain is not generic you are probably looking at the type in value, which is simply confusion about the correct web address of a legitimate entity - think about that from a point of view of the other company and what their legal folks will see it as.

I know what the domain is and it's a generic one, not dissimilar to the laddersforhome.co.uk example.

 

[grantw]

Totally agree with inbound, you're potentially opening yourself up for a load of hassle and for what gain? Forwarding the domain to your competing site for a few scraps of traffic whilst risking passing off issues or trying to sell the domain to them which would be a totally insane idea!

Unless it's 100% generic I'd steer well clear.

Grant