Trade marks are only valid if ruthlessly defended. If
you put up a grill site it would be hard for them to take it from you, and they
may have no desire to, but they must make the attempt or run the risk of losing
all control over Go Daddy, much like Escalator lost all control of their name
when it became a generic for moving stair cases.
I have to share this story with my fellow open source / free
software folks.
About 3 years ago I resisted a domain
GoDaddyGrill.com. I registered it under my Wild West Domains Affiliate
account.
It sat un-hosted until about 2 months ago when I hosted
it to test codeigniter. See for yourself: http://www.godaddygrill.com/
Yesterday
I get an email from GoDaddy as follows:
- - - - - - - -
It has come
to our attention that a domain name you have registered is infringing upon one
or more of GoDaddy.com trademarks.
As you may be aware, GoDaddy.com
is a registered trademark of GoDaddy.com. We are writing as a courtesy to
inform you that your use of the term "Go Daddy" in your domain name or a domain
name that is substantially the same or confusingly similar to the "Go Daddy"
mark is likely to cause confusion in the marketplace and would therefore likely
be construed as a violation of the GoDaddy.com trademark.
As a
result, we would like to reimburse you for your purchase of this domain and
transfer the domain into our control.
Please transfer the
domain name to GoDaddy within 10 calendar days.
- - - - - - -
-
Now I'm no lawyer... However I was thinking of putting up a BBQ
site not a site to compete with GoDaddy.....
They have offered to extend
the registration of one of my other domains for 2 years for releasing it and
will want me to sign an agreement.
Of course I do not want to
fight with GoDaddy, however I do not want to sign anything either. I am
going to release the domain however I am doing so under duress.
It is not
my desire to cause a flame war on this list over big brother and little
me. If we have a philosophical discussion that would be nice though.
There used to be a lawyer on the list... wonder if he is still around.
------------------------
Keith
Smith
(480) 584-4772
PHP
Programming
Pinpoint
customers who are looking for what you sell.