whois complication

[charlie]

Domain name:
the name.co.uk

Registrant:
the name

Registrant type:
Not supplied

Registrant's address:
the name
address

Ok this is the situation
the domain is a buisness name that has been recently been purchased(thename = not real, its a "cloak and dagger" filler)

the whois Registrant is the business name

the whois Registrant address is the business address

but the original owner of the business still has control of the domain but is no longer a resident of the address or the owner of the business rights.

Does the new owner have any rights to the domain?
thanks in advance


the regista

 

[bb99]

Did the purchase agreement used to buy the business make any mention of domain names or similar?

 

[charlie]

Did the purchase agreement used to buy the business make any mention of domain names or similar?

i very much doubt it - so i would assume NO

 

[retired_member11]

I'm not sure I quite understand the facts.

Is the 'Registrant', as listed on the whois, a limited company?

 

[bb99]

Were there any business assets transferred as part of the purchase? Y'know, equipment, stock, tools, etc? If this was not itemised in an agreement, and the agreement just said "all assets" then you may be able to argue that the domain was included in this.

More importantly though, is the old business owner amicable to a transfer?

 

[charlie]

I'm not sure I quite understand the facts.

Is the 'Registrant', as listed on the whois, a limited company?

YES 'Registrant' = company name

Were there any business assets transferred as part of the purchase? Y'know, equipment, stock, tools, etc? If this was not itemised and said "all assets" then you may be able to argue that the domain was included in this.

More importantly though, is the old business owner amicable to a transfer?

All the equipment and stock was transfer - there was a general assets list but not totally detailed.

no old business owner requires cash

 

[bb99]

I'm confused by the use of "business" when you may have meant "company".

If the Limited company is the registrant and it was the company that was sold (ie through a purchase of shares by the new owner) then the company still owns the domain - hence there is no problem

If the Limited company is the registrant but it sold "the business" out of the company (ie a sale of trade and assets) then you're at the mercy of the wording of the sale agreement.

Which is it??

 

[charlie]

i seem to have got the wrong end of the stick as well with the limited bit - legally it was sole trader to sole trader. The building is leased and what was sold was the goodwill and the assets? the asset list was not detail.

i suppose this falls into the second scenario

 

[bb99]

OK so let me see if I've got this right...

You have Joe Bloggs trading as BusinessName. Joe has registered BusinessName.co.uk in the name "BusinessName". The domain name is a business asset, presumably he put the cost of registering it through his business books.

Joe Bloggs sells out his business to John Smith. So the business lives on as John Smith trading as BusinessName. As part of the deal, John buys all of Joe's stock and other business assets.

So the critical point is:

- Was the domain name included in the sale of the business (and the stock etc)? If it wasn't specifically referred to, would any wording in the contract cover it?


Hmm. It's a tricky one.

 

[retired_member11]

I think the position is that we can't know the answer with any certainty. It all depends on the small print of the business sale. If the sale includes goodwill, and presumably trading involved the use of the domain name, then it could be argued that the domain forms part of the goodwill 'assets' of the business.

Sounds like a messy situation.

 

[aqls]

Can you have access to his books to see if he claimed the domain name purchase as a business expense?

-aqls-

 

[olebean]

Thats a similar case to jack walker when he sold walker steal the discovered he hadn't sold the land.....

Goodwill does not include the domain, if the domain was written into the accounts as stock then it would be included. The original owner still has rights to it unless written separately

 

[aqls]

graygoose.co.uk

lol

-aqls-

 

[charlie]

i'll have to dig a little deeper - but seems like its going to be more of a struggle than its worth - might have to stick to a hyphen version of the name for a while

 

[olebean]

Aqls

With a 1000 OV i just couldn't resist

lol