The top publicly reported domain name sale of the day this past Saturday was the auction for ChefD.com. The domain name sold for $11,850, as reported in a tweet from NameBio on Sunday morning:
Top sale of the day goes to @GoDaddy – chefd(.)com sold for $11,850. Daily market report: https://t.co/bwkj9sdiCu
— NameBio (@NameBio) April 7, 2019
Notably, there appears to have been a legal threat issued via comment within the GoDaddy Auctions bidding platform. Have a look at the screenshot that was originally shared on Domain Boardroom that I was given permission to share publicly:
I have no way to know if this legal notice was made by a lawyer representing a trademark interest. For all I know, it could have been made by an unaffiliated third party to dissuade others from bidding in the auction. It seems like anyone can leave a comment.
I believe the ability to comment within an auction has always been there. If you are bidding on an auction at GoDaddy Auctions, on the review popup, there is a hyperlinked field that says “Add comment here.” I presume that if you click it, you can add a comment that will show up with your bid as demonstrated in the screenshot above. I have noticed that link before, but never thought about commenting nor have I even noticed other comments before seeing this.
It will be interesting to see who ends up with the ChefD.com domain name, and if it not an entity related to the supposed trademark holder, it will also be interesting to see if any type of legal action is taken in the future. I would also be interested in knowing why this comment functionality exists. Perhaps someone from GoDaddy can explain its purpose.
Weird. I didn’t know you could comment.
You mean this is a real lawyer, unlike the lawyer247 that bids on NameJet?
No way to tell who it is.
Double edge sword of making this issue public. On one hand, it’s good for domainers to be aware of this. As per the comments thus far, it seems even the most tenured were unaware. On the other hand, I have a sneaking suspicion that since this is a story now, we’re about to see an explosion of bogus threats suddenly begin appearing, in hopes to scare others from bidding on certain domains. GoDaddy simply needs to remove this useless and troublesome feature from auctions.
People should do TM due diligence before bidding on an auction regardless of whether or not a threat is made.
I sent the article to a GoDaddy rep, and hopefully the company can comment on the utility of the comment functionality. If it is a legacy field that no longer serves a purpose, it can be removed.
its was avenati
Comments are being removed as we upgrade the pages for each inventory type. Make Offer listings was the latest to remove the comment ability (https://domaininvesting.com/godaddy-updates-offer-counter-offer-pages-for-auctions/) joining buy now listings, and we’ll have the rest taken care of by EOY.
Why don’t you add Bidders ID corresponding to their Account Details? That’s transparency.
Bidders anonymity is needed only by those who thrive on bidding games, fraud and shill bidding …
The same is applicable to NameJet, DropCatch, etc
If auction houses don’t change their practices, people will force them to change, through lawsuits, class actions or a FBI investigation … Just wait and see …
Paul, when are domain Buy it Now listings being updated to be like the new Make Offer pages? Or are BIN pages hopefully not changing?
Once it becomes useful they remove it
that’s a great strategy that guy used…lol
i never knew they had this comment feature
IMHO this is the mentioned lawyer, Robert Hart, of AddyHart P.C., a law firm in Chicago, IL: http://addyhart.com/
There are several TMs on the word term “CHEF’D”.
See an example below.
Word Mark CHEF’D
Goods and Services IC 035. US 100 101 102. G & S: Online retail store services and mail order services featuring food and recipes. FIRST USE: 20150327. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 20150327
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 86427107
Filing Date October 17, 2014
Current Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1B
Published for Opposition March 24, 2015
Registration Number 4875593
Registration Date December 22, 2015
Owner (REGISTRANT) Chef’d, LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY DELAWARE 291 Coral Circle EL SEGUNDO CALIFORNIA 90245
(LAST LISTED OWNER) TRUE HUE, LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY DELAWARE 2260 UNIVERSITY DRIVE NEWPORT BEACH CALIFORNIA 92660
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record Robert Hart
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE
https://www.grocerydive.com/news/chefd-mounts-a-comeback/547094/
Was the bidder who commented the winning bidder? How much did they bid up to?
I never knew you could do that either. Every first comment should be:
“You’re HugeDomains, right?”
I knew you could comment, but forgot about it. Found the option by mistake one day.
I assumed most knew you could comment, just thought no one bothered to.
Owell, they’re removing the comment sections anyway.
If anyone receives abusive, threatening, or other types of comments that concern them, they should email auctions@godaddy.com to investigate.
You have shared a nice tutorials about legal threat within godaddy auction. The given info will help people to buy new domain. Thanks