Domain Dispute Question

[dave111223]

Can anything be done with a situation like this:

I own a domain, for example: ABC.com

Another company selling somewhat similar genre products (but not direct competition) has, for example: XYZ.com.au

All is fine and well at this point, both peacefully existing.

Then XYZ company buys the domain ABC.com.au and redirects it to XYZ.com.au, they do not do business as "ABC" and don't have "ABC" anywhere on their website, it's just a straight redirect. So that any Australian users who accidentally add a ".au" out of habit to end of our ABC.com, end up at XYZ.com.au

Contacting XYZ directly to complain has been fruitless, and it appears that you need to pay and upfront fee of more than $2000 just to roll the dice and have a AU domain authority rule on it (seems quite a process).

Should I fight fire with fire; as I noticed that the .com for their domain is available for sale at a lot less than the $2000 arbitration fee, and reroute their mistyping Australian customers to us.

[bkkjames]

Personally, I like the last option, but I am generally a pretty vindictive c+++ overall

[draftvader]

From a technical point of view it is first come first served in relation to the domain name. If you can prove, in court, that your business needs that domain then you can pursue that avenue.

From a business perspective you need to ask whether you have seen a direct impact to your P&L from this activity. If you have then you might want to go down the last route. However I think your money could be better spent on actively marketing your present domain and ensuring that your online profile out-strips theirs. That would really be fighting fire with fire. Reinvest your money in increasing your presence both online and in traditional marketing channels (can't comment on the best avenues without knowing a lot more about your business).

Good luck with it. Take it as a stimulus for growth. Maybe one day they'll be out of business and you can get your domain registration company to purchase it for you when it is ready. Most reputable businesses will only charge a set admin fee for this service.

[dave111223]

From a business perspective you need to ask whether you have seen a direct impact to your P&L from this activity. If you have then you might want to go down the last route. However I think your money could be better spent on actively marketing your present domain and ensuring that your online profile out-strips theirs. That would really be fighting fire with fire.

The issue is not marketing. If you search google for us, or our keywords, you'll find us (we are 1st page for all our targeted words). But the concern is mis-typing existing customers who are trying to remember our name and type it directly into their browser.

You'd be surprised by how many Australian users will even type their own email address incorrectly (typing @hotmail.com.au or @gmail.com.au by mistake), so I can only assume that some of them also type domains incorrectly adding a ".au"

Good luck with it. Take it as a stimulus for growth. Maybe one day they'll be out of business and you can get your domain registration company to purchase it for you when it is ready. Most reputable businesses will only charge a set admin fee for this service.

Note that it is a .COM.AU so I cannot own it because we are not an Australian business with an ABN.

Maybe some Australian members can give me an idea of how likely it is that you'd stick a ".au" on the end of a domain that you're typing?

Edited August 3, 2012 by dave111223

[impulse]

Spend the $20 bucks to get their domain name in .com and start negotiating with them.

Play nice to start.

[dave111223]

Spend the $20 bucks to get their domain name in .com and start negotiating with them.

Play nice to start.

It's more than $20, it's up for sale at many hundred $ from a squatter. But I think I'm going to buy that and a few other domains similar to theirs and then try to use them as a trade off to redirect these domains to them, and my domain to me.

And if they are not interested in the trade at least I can kick back knowing that I'm stealing at least as much traffic as they are stealing from me.

[innerspace]

Depends how big/serious your business is.

If big enough then trademark your company name.

Them owning the website but not using the actual name "shouldnt" be a problem.

Then the fight for the domain is seriously in your favour.