It also sounds as if you have superior trademark rights in the name as well. I don't know where you are, but the rule in the U.S. is that superiority goes to the person with first use or first application, and if you were *using* as a live site (rather than merely had registered) the name ahead of the other guy, you win. This possibly eliminates their argument that they are the rightful owners of the name in the first place. Then you have your UDRP and other arguments. If your facts are as you state them, they've failed to follow due processes. Cameron Powell VP of Business Development and General Counsel SnapNames 115 NW First Avenue Suite 300 Portland, OR 97209 (503) 219-9990 x229 (503) 274-9749 fax [EMAIL PROTECTED] Connecting Registrars and their Customers to the Secondary Market in Domain Names -----Original Message----- From: Eric Paynter [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 9:57 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: SOL Keith Bailey writes: > I realize that this is probably off topic and there is probably nothing > I can do at this point, but I have been impressed with the knowledge > base here and am curious if anyone has any advice to save me from my own > stupidity. > > I just got a letter today from a lawyer's office notifying me they > represented <the name of my company> and are changing the name server > next week (basically "pack up your bags and vacate the premises). > Although it is a small company, this is my primary domain name and I > have about 50 domains and websites registered under it. > > It seems I was stupid and let my business name run out with the state. > They signed up as exactly the same business name and got NetSol to > change all the contact information to them. > > The other company has been bitter ever since 1996 when I started a > little company to pay for the books learning about the internet. They > registered <the name of my company>.net and later prohosting.com and > accused me of stealing their idea. > > The company registered a service mark (with a retroactive date) after I > already had a web site up. They haven't been able to affect me until > now because the date the trademark was registered was after the domain > name was registered. But now the whois shows them as the owners with a > creation date of 20-Mar-1996, the date I set it up. > > Any suggestions or am I out of luck. > > Thanks, > Keith > Are you saying that they updated your domain info without your permission and without a UDRP hearing? I think you need to contact the registrar and let them know your domain was hijacked... Somebody can't just state they have a better claim and take over the domain, they have to go through the courts. -Eric P. ------------------------------------------------------- arctic bears - the internet - your way. email hosting from US$8/month, domains from US$19/year. http://www.arcticbears.com
