D
Dogged
Guest
I was recently forced to resolve a domain name issue with American Express involving over the following two domain names:
AMEXACTIVITY.COM
AMEX-ACTIVITY.COM
The facts are too voluminous to list here. For those interested the details and facts (including all correspondence) are at http://www.ejacking.com/
In the end the law firm representing American Express acknowledged in writing that we had done no wrong. However, the cost in time and effort to achieve this was an unfair burden for any small business.
I am now trying to locate others that had this or a similar experience with American Express?
Thanks,
Nick Baker
[email protected]
In summary:
The law firm, Leydig, Voit & Mayer, representing American Express, sent a letter making accusations of AntiCybersquatting, trademark violations, etc., and threatened legal action if the 2 domain names were not relinquished.
NOTE: All correspondence between the law firm and myself can be found at the Web site listed above.
After much research and background work I challenged. After several months (July to November 2000), I received an email and letter acknowledging that there was no violation.
What is the problem? As a small business owner I had to completely suspend all revenue generating work to battle with American Express and its law firm. And, this is exactly what I feel is the strategy for some large companies, i.e., you give in, or fight at a cost that most small businesses can not afford.
Lesson learned -- At this stage of the game some of my thinking tells me that I did the right thing by fighting back. The other, and realistic side of the coin, tells me my business suffered a lot more than I had anticipated. I may have won the battle at the cost of loosing the war. I.e., let my business fail for a lack time to devote to that business and the opponent, i.e., American Express in this case, picks up my domain name holder rights by default if my business fails and cannot pay the next renewal fee?
Thanks for your time,
Nick Baker
AMEXACTIVITY.COM
AMEX-ACTIVITY.COM
The facts are too voluminous to list here. For those interested the details and facts (including all correspondence) are at http://www.ejacking.com/
In the end the law firm representing American Express acknowledged in writing that we had done no wrong. However, the cost in time and effort to achieve this was an unfair burden for any small business.
I am now trying to locate others that had this or a similar experience with American Express?
Thanks,
Nick Baker
[email protected]
In summary:
The law firm, Leydig, Voit & Mayer, representing American Express, sent a letter making accusations of AntiCybersquatting, trademark violations, etc., and threatened legal action if the 2 domain names were not relinquished.
NOTE: All correspondence between the law firm and myself can be found at the Web site listed above.
After much research and background work I challenged. After several months (July to November 2000), I received an email and letter acknowledging that there was no violation.
What is the problem? As a small business owner I had to completely suspend all revenue generating work to battle with American Express and its law firm. And, this is exactly what I feel is the strategy for some large companies, i.e., you give in, or fight at a cost that most small businesses can not afford.
Lesson learned -- At this stage of the game some of my thinking tells me that I did the right thing by fighting back. The other, and realistic side of the coin, tells me my business suffered a lot more than I had anticipated. I may have won the battle at the cost of loosing the war. I.e., let my business fail for a lack time to devote to that business and the opponent, i.e., American Express in this case, picks up my domain name holder rights by default if my business fails and cannot pay the next renewal fee?
Thanks for your time,
Nick Baker