*Sigh*

This is annoying. If you search for Webkore on Google, you'll notice ALOT of companies now named after mine. Webkore.net has been around since 2002, and I made the mistake of not registering the .com version.

So...a few months ago, just for the heck of it, I checked the .com and the guy (i's a kid) is selling hosting as well. This clerly hurts the brand. As well, there's now a UK company that has the same name (taken from Google).

When I emailed the webmaster at webkore.com I received this reply : "Wut, only 100 dollahs? :-p"

Is there anything I can do at the ICANN level (reading their site makes me dizzy to say the least) or in the courts? The .com is registered in Canada (conveniently, only a province away) and was registered more than 2 years later. What can I do about the UK company?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Anthony

Is your business a registered company? - that helps.
You can do something about it. If you can prove that the .com is just a copy of your services, and they are trying to use your brand name to piggy back, you can win it back.
Altavista did the same to someone that i knew- he bought a domain like alta-vista.com or something, and ICANN gave it back under their dispute service.
The UK is run by www.nominet.org.uk. I know you can make a complaint, but don't know anything about it.
You'd probabally get a long way if its just a kid by saying you were going to sue him for stealing your name. He'll probabally hand it over :).

Where did you get this idea about a UK company called Webkore?

webkore.co.uk is not registered, and companieshouse.gov.uk does not list any "Webkore Ltd" or "Webkore LLP" or "Webkore plc" so no company by that name exists.

webkore.com appears to be a case of "passing off", so if you file a UDRP case you may well be able to obtain the domain that way... but UDRP is expensive; it may be cheaper to offer the guy a reasonable sum and see if he is willing to sell. 100 dollars (and I presume we are talking Canadian???) is not what I would call a "reasonable sum".

The other thing you may want to consider doing (before someone else beats you to it) is register your domain under .ca!

I assume the UK company you mean Webkorestudios aka webkoreserver, this is a partnership trading as name and really nothing you can do about that, although there is anomalies in the domain registration information.

I have tried searching the trademark databases for a trademark registered to you and did not find anything, I fear you have been very lax and slightly naive to think you could relax with only the .net name while the .com was available.

The dot com as you say was registered some time after the .net however it has been in play since July 2004, is this just sour grapes because the .com is picking up search engine placement? A similar name in a similar business IMO does not always mean "passing off"

Seriously the time to start thinking about protecting your brand was 4 years ago not now, I don't see any "prior right" issues infringed so fear any UDRP or legal fight would be expensive and futile but do take legal advice from professionals.

The way i would go about it, is if nobody else has a registered trademark on the name webkore, then go head and register that via your government. in USA it costs roughly 275 dollars. once you have trademarked the name you simply call up his registrar and let them know that you own the trademark to "webkore" they will have no choice but to offer you webkore.com at the same price as a normal domain registration from their site.

The way i would go about it, is if nobody else has a registered trademark on the name webkore, then go head and register that via your government. in USA it costs roughly 275 dollars. once you have trademarked the name you simply call up his registrar and let them know that you own the trademark to "webkore" they will have no choice but to offer you webkore.com at the same price as a normal domain registration from their site.

This is what's called "reverse domain-name hijacking".

"I want this guy's domain so I'm going to register his name as my trademark".

It's been tried before, and you're unlikely to get away with it as he had the domain before you registered the trademark.

On balance I'd say your best bet is to offer to buy the domain for a reasonable price.

The way i would go about it, is if nobody else has a registered trademark on the name webkore, then go head and register that via your government. in USA it costs roughly 275 dollars. once you have trademarked the name you simply call up his registrar and let them know that you own the trademark to "webkore" they will have no choice but to offer you webkore.com at the same price as a normal domain registration from their site.

What if the trademark is registered in one country, and the domain with another?

It is better to get a new domain name for your web hosting business. Forget about Webkore.net and Webkore.com. As for me I always register .com and .net. If I cannot get these two TLD, I will not register the domain name unless the name is a popular words combination or in dictionary and not yet taken.

Get a new name for Webkore. Not having a .com is giving bad reputation to your business as others will think that you cannot afford to register the .com. Furthermore, .com is more popular than .net and your clients or potential clients will tend to key in Webkore.com instead of Webkore.net which is not good for your business if Webkore.com is selling same products as yours.

It is still not too late to start with a new name.

It is better to get a new domain name for your web hosting business. Forget about Webkore.net and Webkore.com. As for me I always register .com and .net. If I cannot get these two TLD, I will not register the domain name unless the name is a popular words combination or in dictionary and not yet taken.

Get a new name for Webkore. Not having a .com is giving bad reputation to your business as others will think that you cannot afford to register the .com. Furthermore, .com is more popular than .net and your clients or potential clients will tend to key in Webkore.com instead of Webkore.net which is not good for your business if Webkore.com is selling same products as yours.

It is still not too late to start with a new name.

And lose your brandname? No.
People will remember .net if you make sure your brand includes .net.
From now on, your not webkore, your webkore.net.
Don't give up your brand name!

I know what you mean. That is why I said it is still not too late to start with a new name. A brand name is like Yahoo!, Google, Microsoft, IBM, etc. I hope you get what I mean. :D

Webkore is not a household brandname yet... So it is better to restart your business with a new brandname. Even popular brandname Goto.com changed its name to Overture. Findwhat and Espotting changed their name to Miva after having bad reputation.

It would be hard to change the name now. Most clients do not come from WHT, that's why you don't hear about Webkore much over here. I make sure that the .NET is always in the name.

It's been in business since 2002, the software used has been branded, the business cards printed, everything. It's even a PR4 with a gush of PR5.

The company is registered but I nevr bothered getting a trademark. That was my mistake. I'll offer a decent amount (I'm not sure what domain names go for..any tips?) and see what I can do. If not, I'll get the laywer to send a formal letter, see if maybe that puts any pressure. You can tell from the site the kid doesn't really care...

Probably the registrant didn't know anything about your Webkore.net when he/she registered webkore.com. I hope you know what I mean. When I think of a domain name to register I will check out .com first and if it is not taken I will immediately register it and then followed by .net, .org, and .info.

Furthermore, I don't think Webkore.net is a good name for your business if you don't own webcore.net or webcore.com. If you mentioned your business name on the phone, others might think that it is spelled webcore.net.

Just my opinion about domain registration.

What if the trademark is registered in one country, and the domain with another?

UDRP is the solution for above. You can possibly file suit at the Registry's location
(i.e. COM NET Registry - Virginia US), but you know how tough filing suit can be.

How about WEBKORENET.COM as a compromise solution if you can't get the .com name.

Upping your offer could be a lot cheaper than getting a lawyer and filing UDRP ($1000-$2000).

To win at UDRP you have to show that:
1.That the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which the Complainant has rights; AND
2.That Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; AND
3.That the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

http://www.icann.org/cgi-bin/udrp/udrp.cgi is a great site to view past UDRP decisions and get an idea of what it takes to win.

Is your business a registered company? - that helps.
You can do something about it. If you can prove that the .com is just a copy of your services, and they are trying to use your brand name to piggy back, you can win it back.
Altavista did the same to someone that i knew- he bought a domain like alta-vista.com or something, and ICANN gave it back under their dispute service.
The UK is run by www.nominet.org.uk. I know you can make a complaint, but don't know anything about it.
You'd probabally get a long way if its just a kid by saying you were going to sue him for stealing your name. He'll probabally hand it over :).

If I recall correctly, altavista.com was a consulting company and the search engine Altavista was located at http://altavista.digital.com. HP threatened suit and the small consulting firm surrendered.

I remember trying to get all the blacklotus.* domains. We started out with blacklotus.org and purchased blacklotus.net for $80 and blacklotus.com for $250. The entire evolution took several years of negoitating.

and in many cases when the owner don't have enough money to fight they just accept to sell it

like BAA.com story he didn't lose but lawyer fees went way high and he finally settled with british airport authority

Why do we all regard the owner of webcore.com as a villain? Could it be that this is an honest guy that runs a legitimate hosting business using a domain name that he liked and was available at the time? And what if he responded to Anthony in a somewhat rude way because some dork (in his eyes) has sent him an unsolicited offer for his domain name?

Just think about it -- how would you respond if some strange person approaches you to buy your precious business' domain name?

I cannot help wonder if only thing wrong here is perhaps only Anthony's neglect to register the .com name in the first place...