One of the top domain names on the board at GoDaddy Auctions today is SilverSeas.com. The domain name sounds like it could be sort of generic in the color + keyword sense I suppose, but it is very similar to the Silversea cruise line brand name. It is the type of domain name that caught my attention, but I quickly decided it would probably end up causing issues and I am not going to participate in the auction.
In fact, a UDRP was filed against the SilverSeas.com domain name in 2018 by Silversea Cruises, Ltd. The domain registrant did not respond to the UDRP proceeding, and the complainant won the UDRP. Shortly thereafter, the domain name registration transferred to Carey Rodriguez Milian Gonya, LLP, the law firm that represented the cruise line in the UDRP.
The domain name is now in expired status at GoDaddy, and as a result, it is being auctioned to the highest bidder today. At the time of publication, there are 83 bids from 15 different bidders, and the high bid stands at $2,026. There are approximately two hours remaining before the auction concludes this afternoon.
GoDaddy’s appraisal tool values this domain name at $7,200, but from my non-legal perspective, it seems like it could end up being a costly liability if the cruise line decides to come after the domain name again.
What a coincidence….a focus screener called me last week to do a critique on their website and I got paid $$$…just for 1 hr. It was done remotely.
I told her that the website is nice and clean….
Thank you very much$$$
Will godaddy be able to push it to auction buyer, if it gets put in locked status, I can’t see them selling it now, but it will have to go thru the deletion cycle?
Why wouldn’t they? The UDRP was decided a while ago and was in the complainant’s law firm account before expiry.
No sense bidding such domains! Thanks for the case study Elliot.