Respond with the Help of a Good Attorney

One of the things I have learned over the years is that no matter how descriptive a domain name is, there is always the risk that a company will believe it has more rights to the domain name than an investor has. Sometimes, a company will start off by sending a Cease & Desist letter (C&D) to the registrant in an effort to scare the registrant into giving up the domain name for nothing or a pittance. This can be the first salvo in a long legal battle or it can be the last communication.

Responding (or not responding) to a C&D letter may depend on the situation. While it might be tempting to respond on your own, particularly in the case of a serious overreach, I think it is best to hire a good IP attorney with domain name expertise to evaluate the situation and come up with a best response (or non-response). An attorney might suggest how to reply or might be able to write a strong response if necessary, depending on the exact situation.

Logan Flatt shared a brief snippet about a recent situation he was in and gave thanks to attorney Jason Schaeffer for his assistance:

Not only did Jason’s response get the other party to back off, but it helped to close a full-price deal. I don’t know the exact situation to comment on whether or not the company had a leg to stand on with their grievance, but it’s a pretty solid outcome for Logan and his company to get a deal closed.

Over the years, I have seen quite a few people mention C&D letters and other types of threats. Some people are combative with their replies and others simply surrender the domain name. Each situation is different, and I think getting legal advice from an experienced attorney is the first thing that should be done to get an unbiased evaluation of the situation and potential outcomes.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

10 COMMENTS

    • Yes – for sure. He may also be able to get a signed letter assuring the registrant that no legal action will be taken once the domain name is transferred.

  1. Is there a template letter we normal people can use or only have to hire a high priced attorneys at law to “fight” against another high priced attorneys at law?
    “fight”= in cahoots

    As the saying goes— one lawyer in town-no business
    2 lawyers in town- that where the business starts kicking in.

    circle of live for themselves.

Leave a Reply

Recent Posts

Questions Related to Uni —> Afternic Parking Migration

5
If you are a Uniregistry customer, you most likely received an email explaining the upcoming migration of the Uniregistry Market and parking platform to...

Some Uni-Registered New gTLDs Will be Transferred to 1API

2
I received an email from Uni (formerly Uniregistry) that I initially thought was a Whois verification email and almost ignored. It was, in fact,...

Advice and Resources for a Newbie Domain Investor

2
Someone reached out to me on Twitter seeking advice for selling domain names. In a short tweet thread, I shared a few thoughts and...

AI.com Now Forwarding to ChatGPT Website

1
Early this morning, Andy Booth tweeted about AI.com, asking if the domain name was acquired by ChatGPT. Andy presumably asked because the AI.com domain...

Markmonitor Highlights Job Openings

0
Last week, GoDaddy layoffs impacted 8% of its workforce around the world. I am sure there are quite a few experienced people seeking new...