Dell has good lawyers

[incka]

I owned the domain dell-coupons.info, but just now their lawyers have contact me asking to cancel the domain... I wonder if they will do this with subdomains...

[Kyle]

How did they find out you had it?
Was there a site online and they were able to find it through search engines?

[Mike]

Very strange seeing as it's helping dell...

[incka]

I had a template up that said the name of the site. They said it was competiting with dell when it was just a design and that if I did not cancel the domain within 10 days they would sue me for $100000... Well I went straight to godaddy and canceled... I'm just wondering if they will stop sites using folders with the name dell from promoting the coupons, as I am sure Chris will be.

[Mike]

That's too harsh imho. Perhaps you could have tried to explain that it was more beneficial to dell for your site to be up?

[Chris]

They do not allow people to use "Dell" in their domain. Amazon is the same way. Its about trademark protection. They only want Dell corporate websites to have Dell in the domain so customers are not confused about the websites they are visiting.

They do not care about files or folders though.

Their affiliate program also has rules against using Dell in your domain, if you do so they kick you out.

[Mike]

But if you make out you have nothing to do with Dell, they shouldn't be bothered should they? Like having a notice on every page?

[Chris]

It doesn't matter. The fact is to a lay person what it says in your domain is your business name, and Dell does not want people to have that perception. Neither does Amazon, neither do most merchants.

[MarkB]

They came flat out and told you what they'd sue you for? How can you be sure it's legit?

[AndyH]

I can understand where they are comming from, with a domain with dell and coupons in it, someone may assume it is their offical coupon site...

Was it a cease or desist letter, or simply a few lines?

[nohaber]

What's the legal issue with having such domains?

[AndyH]

Their trademark.

[nohaber]

Is there a law that says no one can register/use domains that include trademarks in them?

[MarkB]

I guess they'd use the same law that protects trademarks in trading names. Try setting up 'Coca Cola Web Design' ;)

[incka]

They mentioned several things. I am sure it is legit as the domain sent from was http://www.jonesday.com/ and the .doc attached to it was several pages long and loads of legal stuff. They replied straight away when I asked a question too...