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Squadhelp adds down payment option for lease to own
Ask buyers for a down payment to reduce the chances of buyers abandoning long-term payment plans. Offering long-term payment plans for domain names is a great way to increase sales. However, sellers can be frustrated when buyers stop making payments. And the longer the payment period, the more likely the buyer will stop making payments. […]
Post link: Squadhelp adds down payment option for lease to own
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Categories: Domains
Content blockers are preventing people from seeing domain landers
Tens of millions of people can’t see your domain landing pages. People interested in buying domain names generally learn they’re for sale in one of two ways: search for the domain name at a registrar and see a premium listing, or type the domain into a browser and see a sales landing page. Unfortunately, many […]
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Categories: Domains
A dozen end user domain sales including .link and .me
A legal SEO company, a link-in-bio service and others bought domain names this week.
Of all of Sedo’s sales this past week, the one I’m most curious about is church.sucks. .Sucks domains rarely make aftermarket lists, and this one is super unusual. Perhaps a church’s marketing campaign to show that church doesn’t have to suck? Or maybe an atheist bought it? We’ll have to wait to see.
As for domains we know the buyer of, Here’s a list of end user domain name sales that just completed at Sedo. You can view previous lists like this here.
NowOn.com $19,000 – Digitall is a digital transformation business that announced a partnership with ServiceNow. I suspect the name is a play on the ServiceNow partnership.
Link.xyz €10,000 – It appears the buyer is setting up a tool for creators that includes link-in-bio and link shortening.
LawFirmSEO.com $8,500 – Hennessey Digital bought this domain. The firm’s founder, Jason Hennessey, was on DNW Podcast #366.
Tower1.com $6,950 – Tower1 is a residential real estate investment firm.
PromoRegalo.com €4,840 – This site sells corporate branded gifts. It’s Spanish for promo gift.
Online-Energieausweis.de €4,000 – This domain, which is German for online energy certificate, resolves to the site for a business that sells energy consumption and need certificates.
Dudugo .com $3,439 – This domain is used for a Chinese-language site selling luxury purses.
Links .me $3,000 – This site will be a marketplace for selling links and guest posting. This stuff is the bane of my existence; I get about a dozen spammy guest post requests daily.
Liluna.de €2,975 – Liluna is an online store selling candles and baby gifts.
CGroup.eu €2,599 – This domain forwards to the website for Corporate Solutions grupa, which provides technology and business consulting.
Gasup.de €2,000 – The buyer is setting up a Shopify store.
GolfAndTravel.de €2,000 – Golf & Travel is a golf travel company.
Post link: A dozen end user domain sales including .link and .me
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Buying on SnapNames is better, but still not great
I experience fewer headaches at SnapNames than I used to, but it’s still not as easy as winning expired domains at other services.
I’ve bought a lot more domain names on SnapNames over the past six months after taking a long break. I took a break because of the “pain and suffering” you experience when you win a domain name there.
When you win a domain on GoDaddy Auctions, it goes into your GoDaddy account. When you win at DropCatch, it goes into your NameBright account. But when you win a SnapNames, who knows where it will end up?
For a while, even when the domain would be placed into a Network Solutions account, SnapNames created new Network Solutions accounts for me. It seemed to randomly insert the wins into one of four or five accounts. So, I had all these accounts and would have to log into them to find the domains.
I’m not sure what changed, but now all of my Network Solutions wins go into a single account, which saves me a lot of headaches.
To be sure, there are still many issues. I was reminded of this when I won a domain name at SnapNames this week that was at Crazy Domains. Crazy Domains is part of the same company as SnapNames, but I’ve never had a domain there.
I got errors when changing the domain’s nameservers to Afternic. I connected with chat support, and they said it appeared to be an invalid nameserver. I told them that wasn’t the case, and they escalated the issue to their domains team. Later that day, I received an email saying the problem had been resolved and that the domain was now pointing to the Afternic nameservers.
Except, it doesn’t. It still points to the old nameservers; now, the previous owner’s site is resolving!
Getting your wins at random registrars is painful, and I try to avoid any domains not at Network Solutions or Register.com when I can.
Granted, even when a domain is inserted in your Network Solutions or Register.com account, there is some pain and suffering:
- You get an email verification for every domain you register, and you have to click this for your domain to be active in the DNS
- These registrars don’t let you add the Afternic ownership verification nameserver
- It’s a tedious process to transfer out
I’ll finish this rant with a couple of nice things about SnapNames.
First, it’s nice that all of my Network Solutions wins land in one account.
Second, you can instantly opt into the Afternic network. Even GoDaddy requires you to wait 60 days.
(By the way, if you’re using NameJet instead of SnapNames, you’re wasting money. SnapNames doesn’t charge credit card fees. Update: NameJet recently stopped charging credit card fees.)
Post link: Buying on SnapNames is better, but still not great
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Aston Martin wins .ai domain from misguided domain registrant
Forceful response falls flat as Aston Martin wins case for AstonMartin.ai.
Aston Martin won a cybersquatting claim against the registrant of AstonMartin.ai. Photo courtesy Aston Martin.If there ever was a clearcut case of cybersquatting, registering AstonMartin.ai and listing it for sale would certainly qualify.
But that didn’t stop the person who registered this domain from putting up a spirited defense when Aston Martin filed a case against him.
First, the registrant argued that the carmaker doesn’t have a trademark in Anguilla, which is the country .ai is for.
The registrant also argued that Aston Martin should have tried to resolve the case without filing a cybersquatting dispute:
…the Complainant has brazenly sidestepped any attempt at amicable resolution by blindsiding the Respondent with baseless claims and a malicious attempt to wrest control of a domain name to which it holds no legitimate entitlement under the Policy. This Machiavellian maneuver is a clear indicator of the Complainant’s nefarious intent to harass and intimidate the Respondent through underhanded means.
The Respondent makes a lot of “vehement” assertions, including that:
- the Complainant’s assertions regarding confusion or misleading consumers are utterly baseless and bereft of any factual foundation
- the registration of the disputed domain name was not orchestrated with the intent to disrupt the Complainant’s business operations. Such allegations are nothing short of egregious attempts to malign the Respondent’s character and are categorically refuted.
Well, I’ll give their lawyer an A for forceful language.
The panelist unsurprisingly found in favor of Aston Martin and ordered the domain transferred.
Post link: Aston Martin wins .ai domain from misguided domain registrant
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Categories: Domains
Fresh Brandz LLC tries reverse domain name hijacking
Company went after domain that was registered before it existed.
A company that sells aluminum-free deodorant has tried to reverse hijack FreshKidz.com, a UDRP panel has determined.
Fresh Brandz LLC sells a line of deodorant under the name Fresh Kidz. It uses the domain name MyFreshKidz.com.
The company filed a UDRP against FreshKidz.com, which domain name investor eWorldWideWeb, Inc. owns.
eWorldWideWeb acquired the domain name in an expired domain auction in March 2018. Fresh Brandz wasn’t formed until later that year. Fresh Brandz said it was the predecessor in interest of a company that existed before the domain registration but did not provide any evidence of that.
The three-person panel found that the Complainant failed to make even a prima facie case that the domain owner lacked rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. Even if it had, the panel said the domain owner successfully rebutted it.
The panel also found that the Complainant failed to show the domain was registered and used in bad faith.
In finding reverse domain name hijacking, it wrote:
In the present case the Panel considers that Complainant knew or should have known that it was unlikely to be able to show Respondent lacked a legitimate interest or had registered or used the Disputed Domain Name in bad faith. In this regard Respondent must have known Respondent’s registration of the Domain Name predated Complainant’s formation (a date which Complainant failed to identify in the Complaint), and predated the claimed first use in commerce date claimed in the FRESH KIDZ Trademark application (again a date which Complainant failed to identify in the Complaint). In order to overcome this problem Complainant sought to rely on what it said was its predecessor in interest Kind2Skin Ltd and says it is the assignee of that company’s trademark rights in the Earlier FRESH KIDZ Trademark. In doing so it was vague as to the relevant chronology but it must have been apparent to Complainant and/or its counsel that evidentiary proof of such an assignment was required, but none was provided. Complainant has failed to adduce any evidence at all to support its claim to be the successor in interest to Kind2Skin Ltd or its trademark, and it failed to disclose that trademark had subsequently been cancelled for non-use. Taking all of these factors into account, the Panel finds that Complainant’s actions amount to Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
The panelists were Honorable Neil Anthony Brown KC and Sandra J. Franklin as Panelists and Nick J. Gardner.
Timothy Frailly, one of Fresh Brandz’s managers, represented the company in its filing. Jason Schaeffer of ESQwire.com, P.C., represented the domain name owner.
Post link: Fresh Brandz LLC tries reverse domain name hijacking
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Squarespace’s new regs drop 10% MoM, but might be stabilizing
Squarespace registered fewer .com domains again, but the month-over-month drop wasn’t as extreme.
I’ve been tracking Squarespace’s new .com domain registrations since it took over Google Domains in early September. Here’s the data :
- August (pre-acquisition) 250,324
- September (acquisition occurred September 8) 189,713, down 24% month over month
- October 160,931, down 15%
- November 145,141, down 10%
The good news for Squarespace is that the drop isn’t as big each month.
Squarespace says that churn from Google Domains customers is less than expected, but it hasn’t stated if new registrations are hitting its target.
ICANN just published data from .com registry Verisign showing new registrations at each registrar for November. In addition to the Squarespace data, note that Hostinger has landed on the top 10 new registrations chart for two months in a row, this time topping 100k registrations.
Below is a chart showing how the largest registrars did in terms of new registrations in November. Note that the rankings include multiple registrar accreditations within families of registrars. You can see the list at the end of this post.
1. GoDaddy.com (NYSE: GDDY) 682,905 (752,613 in October 2023)
2. Namecheap Inc. 286,914 (304,155)
3. Gname.com 167,461 (205,943)
4. Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX) 163,149 (170,236)
5. Squarespace (NYSE: SQSP) 145,141 (160,931)
6. Newfold Digital 135,649 (201,035)
7. Hostinger 108,790 (85,029)
8. IONOS 101,168
9. Alibaba 84,655 (86,237)
10. Dynadot 68,904 (78,357)
Here’s the leaderboard of the top registrars in terms of total .com registrations under management as of the end of November.
1. GoDaddy 55,976,359 (56,065,221 in October 2023)
2. Newfold Digital 12,275,329 (12,338,513)
3. Tucows 11,044,487 (11,076,704)
4. Namecheap 9,485,123 (9,428,909)
5. Squarespace 8,166,420 (8,173,894)
6. TurnCommerce 5,944,693 (5,949,178)
7. IONOS# 5,739,094 (5,689,842)
8. Gname 4,460,347 (4,374,509)
9. Alibaba 4,159,117 (4,153,986)
10. CentralNic 3,742,599 (3,769,801)
Many domain companies have multiple accreditations, and I’ve tried to capture the largest ones. See the notes below.
- GoDaddy includes GoDaddy, Wild West Domains, Uniregistry, GoDaddy Corporate Domains, MeshDigital, the 5 “Go Country” registrars, and 123 Reg
- Namecheap includes Namecheap and Spaceship
- Tucows includes Tucows, Enom, Ascio and EPAG
- Newfold Digital Includes PDR, Domain.com, FastDomain, Bigrock, Network Solutions, Register.com, MarkMonitor, SnapNames registrars, and Crazy Domains/Dreamscape. There are other Newfold registrars, but these are the biggest.
- Squarespace includes Squarespace and Google
- TurnCommerce Includes NameBright and DropCatch registrars
- IONOS includes Includes 1&1, PSI, Cronon, United-Domains, Arsys, and world4you
- CentralNic includes Key-Systems, 1API, Internet.bs, TLD Registrar Solutions, RegistryGate, Moniker, Instra
Post link: Squarespace’s new regs drop 10% MoM, but might be stabilizing
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Jewelry company upgrades to GLD.com for $1 million
A jeweler with major licensing deals upgrades its brand with a great domain name.
Jewelry company GLD recently moved its site from TheGLDShop.com to GLD.com.A successful jewelry upstart has secured a significant domain name upgrade.
The GLD Shop has rebranded at GLD after acquiring the domain name gld.com from domain investor Richard Lau. Lau told Domain Name Wire he sold the domain name for $1 million.
GLD has a thriving business selling jewelry to clients such as Justin Bieber, Cardi B, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant. It also has collaborations with the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Marvel.
According to a BusinessInsider article from late 2020, the company was on track to generate $50 million in sales that year. And with people buying more goods during the pandemic, it surely grew from there.
For all its success, though, the company didn’t have a good domain name. It used TheGLDShop.com and ShopGLD.com for its web address.
Lau sold the domain name to the company last year. It just recently switched its site over and now forwards its other domains to GLD.com.
Based on archive.org records, it appears the switchover happened in the past ten days.
GLD is a play on the word gold. It also happens to be the ticker of a gold exchange-traded fund.
I reached out to GLD’s domain buyer broker, Joe Uddeme, to see if the buyer would comment, but the buyer has not responded.
Post link: Jewelry company upgrades to GLD.com for $1 million
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Categories: Domains
Finding cofounders with cofounders .com – DNW Podcast #475
Why this entrepreneur paid $65,000 for cofounders.com.
Chris Koerner reminds me of a lot of people in the domain business: he has his hands in multiple businesses ranging from tree trimming to cryptocurrency to reselling Buc-ee’s goods.
He partners with lots of founders to start businesses and recently paid $65,000 to acquire cofounders.com to promote this opportunity.
On today’s show, Chris talks about why he acquired the domain and what the process was like buying it through Godaddy. He also discusses the time he pitched John McAffee on a crypto project. That experience will show you his grit and determination.
Also: My domain sales/acquisitions in 2024, Squarespace, .Food, and more.
Sponsor: Sav.com domain auctions
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts to listen to the Domain Name Wire podcast on your iPhone, or click play above or download to begin listening. (Listen to previous podcasts here.)
Post link: Finding cofounders with cofounders .com – DNW Podcast #475
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Categories: Domains
Tucows partners on web3 company Orange Domains
Orange Domains is trying to connect the DNS with Bitcoin Naming Service.
Domain name registrar Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX) has thrown its hat in the web3 ring as a partner in a new company called Orange Domains.
Orange Domains plans to expand the functionality of the Bitcoin Name System (BNS) through decentralized apps, as well as develop new top-level domain services to connect the traditional Domain Names System (DNS) with web3 digital identities.
Partners include web3 companies Trust Machines, which raised $150 million, and Hiro Systems.
Don Ruiz, who formerly worked for Automattic on .blog, is the General Manager of Orange Domains.
Ruiz told Domain Name Wire that Orange Domains plans to release a previously unlaunched DNS-based top level domain name later this year in which registrants will get added web3 functionality. He declined to reveal what the domain name is.
Having Tucows on board will give Orange Domains strong distribution; Tucows is the third largest domain name registrar by names under management and has an extensive network of resellers.
Many companies are getting involved in connecting DNS-based domains to web3 technologies.
Ethereum Name Service, a rival naming system to Bitcoin Name Service, allows anyone to connect a real domain name to its service and use it as a wallet address.
There are also individual TLDs that offer web3 connections, such as .box. Internet Naming Co. is introducing a web3 spin on .vana domains later this year.
Over the past few years, it has become clear that web3 identities (which their backers sometimes call domain names) aren’t viable for email and websites. The winning formula, at least for now, seems to be real domain names that can be used as identifiers by connecting to web3.
While web3 capabilities are currently somewhat limited (typically using the domain as a wallet address), backers hope additional functionality will be possible over time.
This post has been corrected to state that Tucows is the third largest registrar, not second. Newfold Digital is the second largest behind GoDaddy.
Post link: Tucows partners on web3 company Orange Domains
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Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute site saved in cybersquatting claim
Domain registrant said he bought the domain to create a tribute to the late singer.
The estate of musician Stevie Ray Vaughn has lost a cybersquatting claim it filed against StevieRayVaughan.com.
The domain owner said he acquired the domain in 2013 because he was a “a long-time blues aficionado.” He put up a tribute site that, at times, has been supported by advertising.
Steve Ray Vaughn’s estate argued that the small site is basically a cover to justify holding the domain name.
But panelist Gerald Levine noted:
The issue is not size of content but that the content is presented genuinely to honor the subject. There is no reason to discredit Respondent’s assertion he was “a long-time blues aficionado who desired to build a fan site in tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan (SRV), who was held in highest esteem.”
Levine pointed out that the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is designed to handle clearcut cybersquatting cases. He determined this was not one of those cases; perhaps the courts would be a better venue.
So, for now, StevieRayVaughan.com will remain in the hands of a professed fan rather than the estate.
Munck Wilson Mandala, LLP represented the estate.
Post link: Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute site saved in cybersquatting claim
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5 new top level domains enter early access today
Internet Naming Co. introduces five new domains today.
. Food is among the domains entering early access today.Five new top level domain names are available for registration starting today: .diy, .food, .living, lifestyle, and .vana.
Internet Naming Co. acquired the unlaunched top level domain names from Lifestyle Domain Holdings last year. (Lifestyle Domain Holdings was part of Scripps Networks, which is now part of Warner Bros Discovery.)
Starting today, participating registrars are offering the domains in the early access phase. It’s essentially a Dutch auction where prices drop daily until general availability pricing kicks in on March 6.
On day one, domain registrar 101Domain is charging $29,999. That drops to $11,999 tomorrow, $6,299 on day three, $3,299 on day four, $1,399 on day five, and $699 on day 6. For all domains other than .vana, the company will charge $44.99 when general availability starts.
The early access fees are one-time charges; domains renew at standard rates (or the premium rate for premium domains).
Internet Naming Co. says .vana will include web3 capabilities that will be announced later this year.
Post link: 5 new top level domains enter early access today
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Passes.com: from $70k domain to $40 million venture round
Richard Lau sold domain name to company that just raised $40 million.
Passes helps creators generate revenue from their audiences.A creator monetization platform has raised a $40 million series A round using a great domain: passes.com.
Domain name investor Richard Lau told Domain Name Wire that he sold the domain to the company in 2022 for $70,000. Once he found out Lucy Guo was behind the company he sold the domain to, he asked to convert the price into shares, making him a small investor in the company.
Guo previously co-founded Scale AI, which was valued at $7 billion.
Passes helps creators generate revenue from their audiences by offering exclusive content to paying subscribers, messaging fans, livestreaming, hosting one-on-one calls, and accepting tips. It’s similar to Patreon but pitches additional features.
The company previously raised a $9 million seed round in 2023.
Passes is a great name that makes sense for the company. As a plural word, the company was able to acquire it for less than it likely would have paid for a good singular domain.
Post link: Passes.com: from $70k domain to $40 million venture round
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Categories: Domains
ICANN considers way to restrict use of accountability mechanisms
Working group asked ICANN for a way to restrict access under specific circumstances.
ICANN has opened a comment period over a proposed bylaw update that would limit access to accountability mechanisms.
The organization has a couple of accountability mechanisms for groups to challenge its actions: the Reconsideration Request and Independent Review Process.
These accountability mechanisms allow aggrieved parties to challenge decisions, but they can be costly and time-consuming for both the filer and ICANN.
A working group that determined how to distribute new top level domain auction proceeds through grants became concerned that applicants that didn’t receive a grant would use the accountability mechanisms.
ICANN proposed that it could address this by putting contractual terms in the grant application that restrict applicants from using accountability mechanisms.
However, many in the community were concerned that this approach could be used in more contracts. Imagine if this term was added to the Registrar Accreditation Agreement or new TLD applications.
So, the proposed solution would require a broad consortium of the ICANN community to propose a restriction, which ICANN’s board would then approve.
I can foresee circumstances in which some in the community will try to use this approach to block groups that abuse the accountability mechanisms by repeat or baseless filings. A long-running campaign around .web comes to mind. It would require a lot of community members who don’t have an interest in whatever is being appealed to join in, though.
The comment period ends April 15.
Post link: ICANN considers way to restrict use of accountability mechanisms
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Squarespace revenue tops $1 billion in 2023
Company reports robust growth in 2023 and says its Google Domains acquisition is performing well.
Squarespace (NYSE: SQSP) reported Q4 and full-year 2023 earnings today.
For Q4, the company grossed $270.7 million, up 18% from $228.8 million in the same quarter of 2022.
For the year, the company grossed $1.012 billion, up 17% from $867.0 million in 2022.
Price increases accounted for 27% of the annual growth.
Unique subscriptions increased 10% to end the year at 4.6 million, not including domain-only customers acquired through the Google Domains acquisition. Average revenue per unique subscription increased 8% year over year, again not including Google Domains-only customers.
Squarespace said renewals from Google Domains customers surpassed expectations. And while the company didn’t break out the impact Google Domains (which it acquired in September) had on its 2023 numbers, the company told Domain Name Wire that it accounted for about half of the bookings growth in the quarter (bookings grew about $54 million).
The company says it expects the Google Domains acquisition to add $85 million to $88 million to the top line in 2024.
Post link: Squarespace revenue tops $1 billion in 2023
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European ccTLDs see reduced growth
Growth is slower, but it’s still growth. Not all TLDs can claim that.
CENTR, an organization representing country code top level domain operators primarily in Europe, has released its latest Global TLD report.
The report indicates that European ccTLDs are still seeing growth, albeit much slower than during the pandemic.
Year-over-year growth in these TLDs was 1.4% in 2023. When looking at monthly year-over-year rates, the market seemed to have hit a bottom in January 2023 and grew from there, but it fell back in the latter part of the year:
CENTR says strong renewal rates in the existing base have helped maintain this growth:
While deletions have increased over 2023, they are still relatively low compared to longer-term averages. This means that while the base of domains in European ccTLDs are often being maintained, new registrations are struggling. Based on analysis of registrations and in particularly average demand ratios, we expect average growth rates to remain similar for 2024. The challenge for ccTLD registries will be to ensure their already high renewal rates are maintained whilst still attracting a sufficient number of new registrations over the year.
This is encapsulated in another chart that shows new registrations divided by deletions:
According to CENTR, European ccTLDs are more likely to be developed than .com domains and other gTLDs, which results in higher renewal rates.
Verisign, the registry for .com and .net domains, reports a blended renewal rate for .com and .net domains that hovers in the low-to-mid 70% range.
The Demand Ratio for .com is below 1.0, resulting in a decline in the base of registered .com domains.
Post link: European ccTLDs see reduced growth
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14 end user domain name sales led by a .xyz domain
A metals company, a solar roof business and a financial regulator bought domain names.
Sedo’s top publicly reported sale this week was hub.xyz. The buyer doesn’t appear to be connected to crypto.
Here’s a list of end user domain name sales that just completed at Sedo. You can view previous lists like this here.
Hub.xyz €31,900 – I must admit this one took me down a rabbit hole for a while. The domain forwards to TheUselessWeb.com. This site, by Tim Holman, randomly links you to weird sites.
Dab.ai $17,999 – This domain forwards to the site for LabCity, an AI company. Dab might be one of its new product names.
Posted.eu €5,375 – Jan Ginhold in Germany bought this domain. It currently resolves to a page showing an envelope with the words (in German) “BECAUSE HUMAN DIGNITY IS INVIOLABLE.”
Westoak.ca $5,000 – The registrant name is Interex Corporate Registration Services Inc., but the admin name is Bravo Tango Ad Firm. It might be for a client.
Biodom.com €4,950 – Biodom sells heating boilers.
Sandguss.de €3,662 – Sandguss is a metal casting company.
Lumatech.de €3,500 – Lumatech sells electronics such as TVs and printers. It forwards this domain to the matching .at.
Sunroof.de €3,500 – Sunroof makes solar roofs. It forwards this domain to the matching .se domain.
AMF.ca $3,500 – Quebec’s Financial Markets Authority, or Autorité des Marchés Financiers, bought this domain name.
T-shirt.se €3,000 – This domain forwards to tshirt.se, a site that sells printed clothing.
Musetto.com $2,500 – The buyer switched the hosting to Digital Ocean and has uploaded a logo for his site.
Vema.app €2,400 – The domain resolves to a page in German that states, “To activate the broker app, please enter the code that your insurance broker gave you.” So, this is some sort of insurance app.
OneGoal.de €2,000 – The website has a logo and the message “Your journey, our passion.”
Swipewise.com $2,000 – This domain forwards to a website for Date Wise, which states, “Because love doesn’t have to be a guessing game.”
Post link: 14 end user domain name sales led by a .xyz domain
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Judge dismisses TRX.com cybersquatting claim
Lawsuit against domain name is dismissed but domain owner’s suit to stop UDRP transfer is still pending.
I said the judge was going to be unimpressed, and I was right. Today, U.S. District Judge Roslyn O. Silver dismissed a lawsuit filed against TRX.com.
BackgroundLoo Tze Ming bought the domain name trx.com for $138,000 in April 2022 at domain marketplace 4.cn.
In October 2022, Fitness Anywhere LLC, a company going through bankruptcy that claimed rights in TRX, filed a cybersquatting claim under UDRP. The following month, the panelist awarded the Complainant the domain name in a controversial decision.
Ming overlooked the dispute notice and didn’t respond, so he sued Fitness Anywhere in Arizona to stay the transfer.
Then, in February 2023, a company called JFXD TRX ACQ LLC, which described Fitness Anywhere as its predecessor in interest, filed an in rem lawsuit against trx.com in Virginia, where the .com registry is based.
Ming successfully petitioned the court to move the in rem case to Arizona, where he filed his original lawsuit.
Moving the case was key because Arizona is in the Ninth Circuit. There’s precedent in the Ninth Circuit that the original registration date of a domain is the relevant date for a case under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).
Trx.com was registered in 1999. The plaintiff got trademark rights in the second-level domain term TRX sometime after that, and then Ming bought the domain years after the trademark was established. However, according to the Ninth Circuit, because the original registration in 1999 predated the plaintiff’s trademark rights, the plaintiff can’t win.
A first chance to clarifyIn January, the judge overseeing the case asked JFXD TRX to explain a couple of things.
First, she asked how, under Ninth Circuit precedent, a domain registered in 1999 before it got trademark rights violates the ACPA.
Second, she asked for clarification on the relationship between Fitness Anywhere and JFXD TRX.
The relationship between the parties is interesting. The plaintiff’s lawyer, Alain Villeneuve, has represented both Fitness Anywhere and JFXD TRX. But there’s confusion about which entity owned the trademarks and at what time. The judge wrote (emphasis mine):
The filings in this case, as well as the filings in the case pending before Judge Logan [the case Ming filed to stay the UDRP transfer], show some confusion regarding the current owner of the TRX-related property and the proper defendant for Ming’s challenge to the order transferring trx.com. According to statements made by Mr. Villeneuve, Fitness Anywhere owned all TRX-related property, including the TRX trademarks, until it sold that property to JFXD in August 2022. Despite no longer owning any TRX-related property, in October 2022 Mr. Villeneuve initiated a domain name dispute proceeding on behalf of Fitness Anywhere. During those proceedings Mr. Villeneuve stated Fitness Anywhere was “the owner of the famous trademark TRX.” That administrative proceeding resulted in an order that trx.com be transferred to Fitness Anywhere. If Fitness Anywhere no longer owned the TRX-related property prior to the administrative proceeding, it would appear the transfer order was improper. If, however, Fitness Anywhere did own the property and continued to own the property, Ming’s claims against Fitness Anywhere pending before Judge Logan are the proper avenue for resolving ownership of trx.com. In that situation, however, JFXD’s current complaint is improper because JFXD does not own the TRX-related property. In explaining why its complaint does not state a claim for relief, JFXD must explain the conflicting positions adopted by Mr. Villeneuve. In particular, JFXD must explain whether Fitness Anywhere owned any TRX-related property at the time Mr. Villenueve stated Fitness Anywhere “is the owner of the famous trademark TRX.”
JFXD TRX subsequently tried to explain how the 2022 sale of the domain trx.com is a new registration and thus should be considered cybersquatting. But the explanation didn’t make much sense.
And JFXD TRX didn’t try to explain the relationships between the parties.
The judge dismissed the case but gave JFXD TRX one more chance: she said the case could be amended if JFXD TRX could show that the domain expired and was registered anew by Ming. And she said that any such amended complaint must be filed along with a statement explaining the relationship between the parties.
The amended complaintThe plaintiff filed an amended complaint (pdf) on the deadline, February 21.
It appears that the plaintiff only changed a couple of things in the complaint.
Sloppilty, the complaint still stated why jurisdiction existed in Virginia, not Arizona, where the case is now being heard.
More importantly, it seems the plaintiff’s only attempt to show the domain expired and was registered anew by the current owner is to state that’s what happened and underline it. There are two changes between the previous complaint and the amended complaint.
In paragraph 23, the amended complaint states:
…Upon information and belief, TRX has owned the TRX® brand at least since 2005. Upon information and belief, in the period of 2018 to 2022, the URL would have expired and returned to the public domain, and in 2022, it was purchased by Defendant from the public domain subsequent to the senior rights of TRX in violation of the ACPA.
and in paragraph 45, it states:
TRX’s federally registered TRX Marks were famous, well-known, and distinctive before Defendant’s registration and/or acquisition of on or before 2022 from the public domain and are entitled to protection under the Lanham Act.
(The underlined portion of paragraph 45 is the only part that changed.)
The plaintiff’s attorney didn’t file an explanation explaining the relationship between the parties on the docket.
Judge dismisses caseThe judge was not impressed by the amended complaint.
First, she noted that it does nothing to explain the plaintiff’s erroneous claim that the domain expired and was registered by the current registrant:
Plaintiff appears to be alleging the domain name was available for anyone to register when Defendant registered the domain name with a registrar. But Plaintiff has already argued that registering a publicly available domain name with a registrar costs $19.99 per year. (Doc. 83 at 5). Plaintiff has also argued Defendant purchased for $138,000. (Doc. 68 at 5; Doc. 83 at 7). Thus, the amount paid by Defendant for establishes Defendant did not register in 2022 with a registrar. Instead, as Defendant has repeatedly claimed, the purchase price shows Defendant bought the domain name on the secondary market.
Second, she noted that the plaintiff’s counsel, Alain Villeneuve, sent an email to the judge rather than filing a statement about the ownership contradictions with the court.
Villeneuve was in a tough spot, and the judge explained:
If Fitness Anywhere did not own “the famous trademark TRX” as of October 2022, Mr. Villeneuve’s statement in the dispute resolution proceeding was false. Alternatively, if that statement was accurate and Fitness Anywhere continues to own “the famous trademark TRX,” Mr. Villeneuve’s statements in this case that Plaintiff JFXD owns the domain name [sic] have been false.
The judge didn’t like the explanation that he emailed to the court:
As for the contents of Mr. Villeneuve’s letter, it is largely indecipherable. The letter appears to state that as of October 2022, Mr. Villeneuve was not aware that his client, Fitness Anywhere, had declared bankruptcy and sold its assets. Thus, Mr. Villeneuve appears to be stating he initiated the domain name dispute proceeding on behalf of a client that no longer owned the relevant property. There is no explanation how an attorney might be unaware that his client had declared bankruptcy and sold off all the property relevant to the attorney’s work. The letter contains a variety of additional statements, but the Court is unable to understand what Mr. Villeneuve is attempting to convey. All that can be determined is that Mr. Villeneuve still has not explained why he stated Fitness Anywhere owned the TRX trademark months after Fitness Anywhere sold all its assets.
What’s nextJFXD TRX’s lawsuit to try to get the domain trx.com is now dead. But that’s not the end of it.
Recall that this whole thing was kicked off by Fitness Anywhere filing a UDRP against trx.com. It seems, based on the record, that the UDRP Complainant incorrectly represented that it owned the trademark in question. Since it did not, the Complainant effectively gave false information to the panelist, who relied on that information to order the domain transferred.
After the panel ordered the domain transferred, the domain owner sued to halt the transfer. That lawsuit is stayed because Fitness Anywhere is in bankruptcy.
However, the UDRP that the lawsuit is based on was filed with false information, which could create a sticky situation in court.
Post link: Judge dismisses TRX.com cybersquatting claim
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Categories: Domains
Domain forums and conferences – DNW Podcast #474
Helmuts Meskonis discusses Domain Summit and how he hopes to bring DNForum back to its former glory.
This week, I interview Helmuts Meskonis, who organizes the Domain Summit conference in London and owns DNForum and AcornDomains.
Helmuts had a bit of a rough relationship with some in the domain name community early on thanks to his association with a controversial person, but I had a chance to chat with him at the Internet Commerce Association meeting last month and learned about some of what he’s doing in the business.
We discuss this background, why he rebranded London Domain Summit to Domain Summit (and how he bought the corresponding domain from Mike Mann), and how he’s trying to breathe new life into DNForum.
Also: Trader Joe’s, Tucows, No Labels, Ethereum and more
Sponsor: Sell your domains with Sav.com domain landers
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Post link: Domain forums and conferences – DNW Podcast #474
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Categories: Domains
Ethereum Name Service community approves eth.link settlement
ENS plans to pay auction bidder $300,000 to settle dispute.
Short numeric .eth domains are hot right now.The results are in, and the Ethereum Name Services (ENS) DAO has overwhelmingly authorized ENS Labs to settle a dispute over eth .link.
88% of the voting power approved paying $300,000 to Manifold Finance, which won eth .link at auction.
62% also authorized settling at an amount lower than that. (I believe the thinking was that the lower amount would be considered if the community didn’t approve the full $300,000).
84% approved reimbursing ENS Labs for its litigation expenses, which have totaled about $750,000.
Only 11% voted to continue litigation.
Now, ENS will need to paper a settlement with Manifold before dropping the case filed against GoDaddy and Dynadot. Manifold will be in a strong position to get the terms it wants, given that the DAO publicly opposed continuing litigation.
Post link: Ethereum Name Service community approves eth.link settlement
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