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Copyright

They are talking bs

If there layers contact you ... they are stupid they could get into trouble for harrassment

No copyright covers the right of a domain . full stop.
 
Meow's right. It's TRADEMARK, not copyright. Copyright is for works, Registered Trademarks for name and just plain Trademarks for slogans,
 
A while back, the supreme court stated that a domain name couldn't be classified as "copyrighted" and owned to an individual who owns the same name as a company. Which means, if i bought kmart.com, it would have been MINE. Not Kmarts.

You should call your site BionicMonkey.co.uk. Not just BionicMonkey.
 
Thanks for all of the advice, thanks to meow's help, I have now had some information about the legal sides of things, and feel confident that they do not have the rights to make me change the name of my site, and if they have evidence on the contrary, they should show it to me.... Thanks a lot meow, you star :cool: :classic2:
 
Additionally, in court of law any copyrights they make therein only is in effect for the content of their site and not the domain name. A while back a supreme court did infact rule this way.

I have quite a bit of knowledge about law so if you have any other problems feel free to contact me.
 
Thanks for the offer GC, but thanks to meow, I feel I now have enough information to be able to handle it. But if I do need more information, I'll know where to look :)
 
You're gonna have to let us know how this turns out, cause I'm very interested. I can't imagine they have much of a case if you bought and own the domain.
 
Don't know if anyone has said this before but let me give you an example of a real case.

Some small record label ------- decides to sue for a domain name that matched there name. Anyways the ruling was since the record company wasn't well known it didn't have a right to the domain.
But, of course there are better known companies that have sued for there domain like Morgan Stanely which was able to take msdw.com based on a court ruling.

My advice don't give in!
 
try to sell them the domain
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I'd strongly advise against doing that.

Legally you're fine, but law isn't the only issue here. The registrar of your domain will have their own policies in place regarding stuff like this. Before you let your guard down too far, be sure to find out what process they'd go through if this other company contacted them about the name and make certain you'll be in the clear.

I've never heard of a "Limited Licensing Company" (nor has Google). LLC normally stands for limited liability company.
 
Originally posted by Dusty
I've never heard of a "Limited Licensing Company" (nor has Google). LLC normally stands for limited liability company.
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That is correct. I also noticed:

since we're a new but established Limited Licensing Company
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New AND established. How'd they accomplish that? Dont let LLC fool you. It only takes about $1,000 to become one. Even though he was friendly, he was also bluffing. Dont respond to his email, and make sure your domain is in use, and dont try to sell it to them. If they make an offer to buy, then consider it, but if you make the offer then they can claim "domain squatting" on you and get it taken away from you. Ignore them and they will either give up or just forget about the issue..

By the way, a trademark costs around $50,000 depending on which variation you get. So I doubt they have anything trademarked.
 
Nominet UK - Registrar of co.uk domains

Their policy on domain disputes:

http://www.nic.uk/ref/drs-policy.html

here is a bit from that policy:

1. Definitions

Abusive Registration means a Domain Name which either:
1. was registered or otherwise acquired in a manner which, at the time when the registration or acquisition took place, took unfair advantage of or was unfairly detrimental to the Complainant's Rights; OR

2. has been used in a manner which took unfair advantage of or was unfairly detrimental to the Complainant's Rights;
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Since none of the above are true - they appear to have no rights getting getting the domain off you...
 
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Well this morning I was graced with another email from "Chip":
" Hi Jake,
Thanks for your quick reply. We have all the necessary copyrights and
trademarks in place. I'll be submitting the matter to our attorneys on
Monday so they can forward you any information you'd like to see. They'll
be handling the issue from here on out. You can probably expect to hear
from them early next week.

Sincerely,
Ralph (chip) Sbrogna
President/Co-Founder
BionicMonkey Studios
http://www.BionicMonkey.com"

My registrar is behind me all of the way and says that I should just stand my ground over it. In fact, everybody who I have spoken to has said that I should stand my ground over it. If he wants me to quite use of it, and gives me the details on why I shouldn't be able to use it, and only when they are produced, will I give it up, but until then, no way!
 
If they are so concerning about the trademark of their name,then why aren't they register bionicmonkey.net and bionicmonkey.org?

Also,i dont think they can take any action if they never register their trademark in uk.
 
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Nominet UK - Registrar of co.uk domains

Their policy on domain disputes:

http://www.nic.uk/ref/drs-policy.html
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Thing is that its not a matter for nominet, as they handle disputes about the domains themselves - this company don't seem to be worried about getting the domain - they're just worried about the name being used.

I agree with what people have been saying about trademarks - its very unlikley that they have registered worldwide. There must be loads of companies with the same names as each other - you're not even a company so that makes it even more on your side.

Have we really come to the point on the internet where organisations and websites are at the mercy of companies over use of names? By 'chips' logic, if you had been using the name for 30 years, and then they came along and set up, and registered the trademark - they would be entieled to stop you! This can't be right!!!! :eek:
 
Originally posted by lotsofissues
Webdude trademarks are much lower then $50,000!
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As I said, it depends on which you get. There are varying levels of trademarks. You can trademark just for your industry, or all of them. For example, SHELL owns the trademark to that yellow sea shell, but only in the oil industry. EXXON cannot turn around and start using a similar yellow shell because they are also in the oil industry. However, that does not cover internet and hosting. I can use a yellow shell for an image on my pages if I so choose.....unless of course they have trademarked it in that industry as well. Most times you will want to trademark something for a set of indutries such as hosting AND internet, not just hosting. You usually want to trademark in about 5 industries. (internet, hosting, computers, software, etc). You pay a fee for each one, and it doesnt take long to hit that $50,000 mark to have a well protected trademark..
 
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