Court Documents: Toys.com to be Sold Again (Updated)

Toys.com was one of the most expensive domain names ever sold at $5.1 million. The domain name was sold in a 2009 bankruptcy auction, and Toys R Us was the high bidder. Toys R Us is now in bankruptcy, and it looks like the Toys.com domain name may come up for sale very soon, according to a court document I read.

In the motion (pdf document via Prime Clerk), it states that “the Selling Debtors seek to establish procedures to sell or exclusively license all of the Selling Debtors’ rights, title, and interest in and to” Toys R Us intellectual property assets, including hundreds of domain names. Some of the valuable generic domain names cited in the motion include:

• Toys.com
• Geoffrey.com
• Toys.org
• TRU.com
• eToys.com

Other Toys R Us and Babies R Us domain names will also be up for sale in this bankruptcy auction. Bidders will have an opportunity to buy domain names such as ToysRUs.com, BabiesRUs.com, KBToys.com, and hundreds of other domain names related to the brands. Only US registered trademarks related to the retail store and e-commerce businesses (and related domain names) are for sale in this motion. Other assets may become available at a later date.

It appears that bidders will be permitted to bid on individual domain names, groups of intellectual property assets, or the entire portfolio of intellectual property assets. It seems plausible that one group will buy all of the intellectual property assets, so we may not see a sale of Toys.com broken out from the other domain names.

Here is an excerpt from the court motion filed by the Selling Debtors which have some important dates for the sale of the Toys R Us intellectual property:

“Stalking Horse Deadline: May 25, 2018, at 5:00 p.m., prevailing Eastern Time, until two days prior to the U.S. Intellectual Property Auction, as the period during which the Selling Debtors, in an exercise of their business judgment, in consultation with the Consultation Parties and with the consent of the Committee (which consent may not be unreasonably withheld), may choose a Stalking Horse Bidder or Stalking Horse Bidders (the “Stalking Horse Date”).

(a) Bid Deadline: June 15, 2018, at 5:00 p.m., prevailing Eastern Time, as the deadline by which all bids must be actually received pursuant to the U.S. Intellectual Property Bidding Procedures (the “Bid Deadline”).
(b) Notice of Qualified Bids: June 18, 2018 as the date by which the Selling Debtors shall notify the bidders whether their bids are Qualified Bids
(c) The U.S. Intellectual Property Auction: June 18, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., prevailing Eastern Time, as the date and time by which the U.S. Intellectual Property Auction, if needed, would be held at the offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, located at: 601 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022.”

The motion includes quite a bit of additional information prospective bidders will want to read before proceeding, including bidding procedures and rules.

For what it’s worth, just over half of the people who voted in this poll believe Toys.com is worth less than $5.1 million today. It’s not a scientific poll by any stretch, but it is interesting to note.

Update: It does not look like Toys.com is going to be sold.