Conflict of title

[Xdatauk]

Hi Everyone, this is my very first post here.

First of all may I apologise to the mods if I have put this topic in the wrong place and they have to move it.

I have owned a loss of loved one free support web site and forum since June 2000 and in that time it has become very successful and a lifeline to many.

In around 2006 I received an email from a lady offering professional counselling but at the same time wanted to promote her books on this subject to my members.
I refused the offer because nothing on my site was ever going to be about earning money from grieving people, so any running costs were always covered by myself (apart from recently with members offering donations towards our chat room costing US$570 a year which I couldn't do on my own.

The lady wasn't happy about me turning her down and shortly after a web site appeared with a very similar name. Now I'm not sure about the rules here regarding web address, so I'll make an example up. My web site domain suppose is called "websiteuk,co,uk" and her's was called "website,co,uk" but on my site I referred to it as WebsiteUK and she did the same on hers. This did upset me because the search engines picked up on this but I didn't think there was much I could do about it, so I let it go.

Out of the blue two days ago I had an email from her stating she owned the company called WebsiteUK and from taking advice from her legals, I must stop calling my site WebsiteUK and can only refer to it as websiteuk,co,uk as it's causing confusion for people getting to her site.

I have reluctantly now changed all my titles and references on my main web home page plus my support forum adding the ,co,uk to them all and I feel robbed.

Legal or not legal it's really got to me that I've referred to it as WebsiteUK because of my domain name for the last 15 years, then someone comes along years later and tells me I can't use it unless I add ,co,uk on the end of it

I guess this is not the usual plea for advise you normally get but I do hope someone can tell me if what she has asked me to do is correct.

Many thanks for a very useful forum.

[Kati]

Re: Conflict of title

Hi - welcome to LB

The way I see it (and I might be wrong) is that after using the domain name for 15 years or so, you should be able to appeal her claims on the basis of it being a (unregistered?) trademark. GovUK has an informative section on this HERE that you might want to look through, but in essence I would argue against her claim on the domain name on this point:

5. Unregistered trade marks

You may be able to stop someone using a similar trade mark to yours on their goods and services (known as ‘passing off’), even if you haven’t registered it.
You’ll usually need to get legal advice from a trade mark attorney.
It’s harder to prove passing off than it is to defend a registered trade mark. To be successful you’ll need to show that:

• the mark is yours
• you’ve built up a reputation in the mark
• you’ve been harmed in some way by the other person’s use of the mark

I suspect that after 15 years of using the domain name you will be able to prove your claim to it as yours and also prove that you have built up a 'reputation' while using the name :tinysmile_grin_t:

Hope this helps!

K x

[ostell]

Re: Conflict of title

I agree with the comment. You have been using that name since 2000, and can prove it by the records at nominet, therefore it is yours by prior useage. She is the one that picked up the name that you had been using and what she is asking is utter rubbish. It would appear that she has taken your registered domain and used it to create a company with the same name.

I would revert your web pages to the previous format and write them a letter pointing out that they have taken a name that you have been using previously, and her action has damaged your reputation. Don't be cowed by the threat in a solicitors letter, she may not have told them the whole truth.

As I understand it if you have company with a particular name then you have first claim on that name for the domain name. However, if the company is newer than the original registration domain name then tough, you can still use it. Originally a lot of people started registering domain names using the names of large companies in the hope that the large companies would pay large sums to get the domain name. This is the reason that B and Q have a domain name of diy.co.uk. they refused to be blackmailed.

Contact nominet.co.uk to see what their opinion would be.

[ostell]

Re: Conflict of title

I'm not sure about this but you may want to contact companies house and complain that this lady has registered a company using a name that you have been using for 15 years knowing full well that someone else was actively "trading" with that name and had been for some time. This page may of interest

[Xdatauk]

Re: Conflict of title

Hi - welcome to LB

The way I see it (and I might be wrong) is that after using the domain name for 15 years or so, you should be able to appeal her claims on the basis of it being a (unregistered?) trademark. GovUK has an informative section on this HERE that you might want to look through, but in essence I would argue against her claim on the domain name on this point:


I suspect that after 15 years of using the domain name you will be able to prove your claim to it as yours and also prove that you have built up a 'reputation' while using the name :tinysmile_grin_t:

Hope this helps!

K x

Kati thank you so much for this informative advice and I am going to look into it very seriously as like you I think it relevant to my situation.

I promise I will keep you updated till the end whatever the outcome may be.

:tinysmile_twink_t2: xx

[Kati]

Re: Conflict of title

I promise I will keep you updated till the end whatever the outcome may be.

:tinysmile_twink_t2: xx

Please do :nod: - I'd like to know how it pans out
K xx

[Xdatauk]

Re: Conflict of title

I'm not sure about this but you may want to contact companies house and complain that this lady has registered a company using a name that you have been using for 15 years knowing full well that someone else was actively "trading" with that name and had been for some time. This page may of interest

I'm not sure about this but you may want to contact companies house and complain that this lady has registered a company using a name that you have been using for 15 years knowing full well that someone else was actively "trading" with that name and had been for some time. This page may of interest

Ostell thank you very much for taking the time to make two posts that I believe will also be very useful to me.

On your advice I have now put the name back to how it's been for the last 15 years and with the positive support I have had here already, I really don't think I should be bullied and just roll over.

I am now going to email her telling her that before I do any changes as requested by her, I am going to contact Nominet and Companies House for their opinion on this matter.

In my eyes now as I see it, she saw an opportunity looking at my web counter showing the daily number of visitors to my established site of 6 years and thought it a good way to increase selling her books and services. When I turned this offer down she got the nearest domain name to mine and added the UK to her website for the search engines to pick up on and taking visitors from my site.

I have now heard from my present members they did end up on her site, got no support which she claimed to give and only then in desperation stumbled on mine.

Speaking to my son this morning, he is of the opinion she has made a very good business from stealing my name and that upsets me, as in 15 years I have prided myself never making a single penny from these very gullible people.

Like I said to Kati, I will keep you informed of what happens next Ostell.

Take care