Refer a good Trademark lawyer?
 

Hey guys,

This is my first thread, so please try to be kind. I'm looking to trademark my name & possibly put a cease & stop disorder on someone. Here's the back story:

When I first got into the industry in 2006 the amateur internet company that was hiring me immediately bought my domain name mialelani.com . I was so green that I didn't know I could or should of bought it. I've developed a really good relationship with him business wise and as friends throughout the years. I asked him last week if he still owned my domain name, he said yes and kind of tip toed around selling it to me. He informed me he just sold a gay domain name for 10k, and proceeded to tell me that he'd sell my domain to him as long as he got a certain % each month or sell it at 10k! Keep in mind I've been checking in on this site throughout the years and nothing has been on it for a year, he tells him he makes money from it every month through referrals. Straightmen site is gay & will by default make more $ than mine because of its name & content, so it's like comparing ballons to blimps.

I'm pretty annoyed at his obscene offer for a number of reasons I don't want to get into at the moment. I feel the more effort I put into making a bigger name for myself, he by default gets a free ride and makes money off me even if I go with another domain name. I want to know if there's anything I can do or stop him from making money off of me in the future when I do launch my site?

I'm open to any helpful advice on the matter...

Achmed on here has ties to the best attorneys

Im not sure its legal to put a "cease & stop disorder on someone" Sounds like a case for Dr Phil :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

if he registered before you became "famous" (aka at the beginning of your career)

you might have a hard time getting the domain away from him.

get a really good trademark lawyer, get the earliest appearance under the name, and file the paperwork for a trademark, clearly document first use in commerce.

then file a domain dispute for the domain.

change your name would be the next best option, many pornstar do that.

He bought HIS domain name that happens to (maybe) be your real name or a stage name.

The name yields many results including a .net on google.

He developed the name (which is usually not trademarkable when so common in use) and you didn't do anything for 5 years knowing full well he was using it and now you want to enforce it because you don't like the price he is offering it to you at?

Good luck.

Any decent lawyer will get you the domain provided you have a use for it.

The Best:

http://www.randazza.com/

Mark Randazza

The best, not the cheapest... But you don't want cheap. You want best.

Is he willing to negotiate at all? It will cost you at least a few thousand to hire a lawyer to try to get the domain back... the whole process will take a couple of months probably, and it's actually quite possible you will lose... :2 cents:

This attorney drinks blood for breakfast. She is located in SoCal. You are welcome.

http://brandaideblog.com/cheryl-hodgson-full-profile/

He bought the domain many years ago. It didn't infringe, and still doesn't infringe, any trademarks.

From what I can see, there is no content on http://mialelani.com/ unless it's just down right now. If domains are registered well before any trademark it may infringe, they are safe. It would be one EXPENSIVE legal battle to gain control of the name, if you even could. I only say "could" because I don't know all the details but based on what you've said so far, I doubt you could get it.

Firstly, you likely already have a common law trademark on the name - so it doesn't matter much whether the TM is registered or not in regards to recovering the domain.

Perhaps, offer him $1500 - $2500 (start at the low end and work the negotiations) to settle now...

It's going to cost you about that much minimum going the UDRP and/or lawsuit* route using an attorney anyways.

* Many cybersquatters don't realize that UDRP (for ICANN gTLDs, such as .com, .net, .org, .info, etc) is optional for the complainant - the complainant, if so desired, can skip UDRP and go straight to lawsuit - that catches some cybersquatters by surprise.

In short, if he's asking $10K, he'll likely settle for around $1500 or so for a sure thing.

With all that said, if you're feeling confident and depending on how familiar you are with this person's personality, you could try another angle and have an attorney draft a cease and desist letter, sent via certified mail, demanding the person to hand the domain over to you - it's worth a shot, but could backfire and result in a higher settlement cost / more drawn out domain battle.

Hope this helps.

Ron