DomainLore Blog.uk domain aftermarket and .uk drop catching plus anything that goes…

> Do you think that selling trademarked domains at private auctions degrades
> the integrity of your site? I do.

I think it would have affected the platform if it was the case.
But I believe it is not and you are jumping to a quick conclusions here.

There must be a fine line between domains *containing* trademarks and domains *abusing* trademarks.

First of all, you must not forget what trademarks are all about. Trademarks protect intellectual property from infringement, but it does not mean that one can not refer (or use) brands or trademarks in an eligible way.

There are cases when domain names can be immediately recognised as infringing just by the nature of the trademark adoption (a.k.a. blatant trademark uses). "One in a million" case gives a good example of such use. Nominet refers to it at http://www.nominet.org.uk/disputes/caselaw/trademarks/.

It is clear with domains of that kind that there can not be other legitimate uses. For that, DomainLore recognizes the importance of trademarks and does it best to prevent any blatant trademark infringing domains to be listed on the platform. This policy is clearly outlined in the rules.

It doesn't mean though that the mere presence of the brand/trademarked term must advance beyond common sense approach.

More often than not, it is simply too complex to decide and make one`s judgements based on the limited information available.

Do you know who has submitted this advanced bid for the domain containing trademarked keyword?
You don't know and neither do I.

Do you know what is his relation to the rights holder or what is his intended use of the domain name?
I don't know and neither do you.

What I know is that right holders often use well-known domain backordering services like Snapnames.com or Pool.com to secure domain names required. I can not see why DomainLore can not offer similar service (albeit differently, based on specifics of .uk drop catching).

Do you also realise that when trademark is used as a supplementary word, in a form of brand+generic word, it might be adopted to describe a genuine service provided and can be perfectly eligible for that fair use. (think 'iphone+repairs', 'teamxbox.com', 'directford.co.uk', 'trademarkSUCKS' domains..etc).

If you consider domain names you were referring to: samsungphones_org_uk - contains trademark but does not infringe trademark unless used inappropriately. It would constitute a perfectly legitimate domain registration for many parties, including affiliated Samsung phones re-sellers.

Look at the other one - britishgasboiler_co_uk and you can research already registered plural version - 'britishgasboilers_co_uk', which is owned and used by an affiliate of British Gas.

IP is a complex law and I am not here to be policing auction submissions based on available assumptions.
Neither you nor I have enough information to decide and be third-party arbiters to evaluate domain`s rights to exist.

Notwithstanding that, it is DomainLore policy to restrict clear cases of trademark-abusing domains.

Moreover, to avoid unnecessary concerns, domain names *containing* recognisable trademarks will not be eligible to be auctioned on DomainLore.

Advanced bids on such domains will not be policed, however, to allow independent catchers to determine themselves whether they want to catch these domain names to sell privately to the interested party.

I hope this addresses your existing concerns.

Good luck,
Denys

According to Nominet's current fees schedule:

"VAT is excluded on invoices to our non-UK registrars based outside the EU."

Based on HMRC VAT regulations, "If the place of supply of your services is the UK, you must charge any UK VAT due" (HMRC Reference:Notice 741A January 2010).

My question is: does this mean that it is determined by HMRC that the 'place of supply' for the .uk domain name registration is a country where the registrar is registering the domain name?

Many thanks for your clarification.