First I hope this is the right forum for this.

I bought proxifyme.com a few months agao and ran it as a free proxy as I still do soley supported by ad revenue using the free phproxy and nph-proxy scripts. I recently got contacted by proxify.com saying I am violating their tademark. My question is would this hold in court? Is it my fault they did not register the name proxifyme.com? Shouldnt I be compenesated if they want me to turn the domain over to them since the domain gross me about 200 a month in ads, it is listed on many top sites and generates close to a few million page hits a day?

I have no issue buying a nother name but the loss of revenue and traffic will be substational.

Any thoughts or suggests let me know. Also ifyou know any case law regarding issues like this that i can research and use in case I need to fight them over this would be greatly appreciated.

That's kind of like paypal suing paypalsucks.com because their name is in it. I HIGHLY doubt that this would stand up in court. You should definitely consult a lawyer and double-check, but that's a bit farfetched. Sounds like they're out to make some money.

We can't give you legal advice here. Have you checked-out the trademarks office? When did they establish their trademark? Did you do a whois on their domain name. When was it first registered? When was your domain first registered? If your date is later, I don't fancy your chances. Actually, I don't fancy your chances much at all, unless you can come up with some compelling reason to rebuff their claims of trademark infringement.

I see proxifyme.com is already redirecting to another site... :(

Yeah and he would not even give me the 9.99 I paid for the domain, he said he would just take it. So figure redirect as much traffic as I can before he takes it. This sucks I was getting over 30 dollarsa day in ad revenue and over 800 uniques a day now I got carp on my site and nogoogle pr from a google pr of 4.

Proxify is a pending trademark by the owner of proxify.com
They applied for the trademark on July 8, 2005 but it may take up to a year to get approved (registered).
http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=595pbe.3.1
http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78666053
They cannot "take" your name and may not win court but there are other ways they can hurt your site. If you are in this for the long term it could be best to change your name. Fair or not, its often the person with the deepest pockets who wins these things. I'd start working on your backlinks and link partners to change to your new URL.

The problem is this: if someone has trademarked a name and you open a site which uses a name that is nearly identical and you offer the same services, they have legitimate grounds for trademark infringement. Like anything in tort law, there is a lot of grey area, and they may not win a lawsuit. But you'd better be prepared to meet them in court if they take it to court, because if you don't, and they win a settlement, you're going to have a hard time finding a host who will allow you to host your site against a court order to cease operations.

It's a gamble to continue using it, no doubt about that!

good news for u , u may also apply for trademark and if u can get it before they get theirs

The fact is you have registered your domain after the application of the trademark and are offering similar services and making money off a trademarked name. All the bells are ringing "bad faith". You are unlikely to win, even if you are innocent, which is no defence, just bad luck.

argh good luck, you have got yourself in a bad position, although a good domain ;) sell it to someone who doesnt know otherwise lol or get rid of it unless you have the cash for court

I think it's too late to sell it to someone else now. That would only proove the bad faith. He's still be liable should proxify.com want to take him to court. He could try a friendly approach and offer it back to them for a nominal sum. The smallest nominal sum being his out of pocket expenses, namely the registration fee.

well I am trying to be polite to them but the owenr is being rude and will not give me his lawyers info. I have stoped the transfer until he supplies me with the lawyers info since th trademark is still pending I have also told him if he continues his scare tatics I will spend the 200 dollars and file for trademark of proxify and proxifyme since neiether are trademarked. He will not give me the 9.99 either that I paid for the domain he said by me asking for that I am cybersquatting.

If it were me I wouldn't give him the domain - I'd just stop using it and redirecting from it. I had a similar case where someome claimed trademark infringement - he didn't have a case but could make it untenable to continue to use the site. I stopped using the domain but did not transfer to him. If he wants it he has to spend the money and go thru legal channels. If you don't have any info about his lawyer then he isn't using one - you would have recieved a cease and desist letter from the lawyer. Nobody will just give you their lawyer's info because everytime you talk to their lawyer they get charged,

Based on some legal advice I have recieved and what others have said I think I am going to go with Virginia on this. I think I am going to redirect the pages to a sedo site instead of a proxy site (just in case he can say iam infringing on his business)

When I run a search for "proxify" at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, I see that the trademark status is "Live". I'm not an expert by any means, but doesn't that mean there is a trademark in existence. Why are you saying that he doesn't have a trademark yet?

I didn't realise that the other party wasn't using a lawyer yet. I'd continue using the domain and making you're (what was it) $200/month. Tell him that you'll continue using the domain until you get a cease and desist letter from his lawyer.

Parking it for sale, is the same as using it for profit... bad faith. You lose. Far-be-it for me to encourage you to infringe on somebody else's trademark, but until the other party gets a lawyer and sends you a cease and desist letter, I think I wouldn't do anything.

Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer. Don't take my advice. Consult a lawyer who has experience with trademarks and domains. John BerryHill is the only one that comes to mind. There are probably lots if you do a Google search.

Proxify is a very large player in this business, they make a hell of a lot of money, and I am very certain they do in fact have lawyer(s). I remember thinking you might get into hot water when I first heard about your site.

Offtopic: How did you manage $30 a day in revenue? I only get a few dollars and I'm doing 3000 uniques a day :P

Proxify™ operates an anonymous proxy service at http://proxify.com/. The "Proxify" name is a trademark of UpsideOut, Inc. which has been doing business under the Proxify name since April 14, 2003. Proxify has developed extensive public recognition of its name as well as having acquired substantial goodwill which is represented by the Proxify trademark. As the owner of the Proxify trademark, Proxify has an obligation to police the market and prevent unauthorized use of its trademarks. Otherwise, it runs the risk of losing its rights to its trademarks. Proxify has retained a law firm to actively pursure anyone who misuses its valuable trademark rights.

This domain name "proxifyme.com" was recovered by Proxify after the previous registrant had misappropriated the Proxify trademark.



Ouch....I guess you gave in. I would still like to know about how you did that much revenue?

Not quite. He's still the registrant. He's just changed to their nameservers. Why did you do that?

But...they don't own the trademark...at least not federally....the trademark application is still pending.

When I run a search for "proxify" at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, I see that the trademark status is "Live". I'm not an expert by any means, but doesn't that mean there is a trademark in existence. Why are you saying that he doesn't have a trademark yet?

Check my links above - "Current Status: Newly filed application, not yet assigned to an examining attorney."

Iam chancing the name servers to a sedo page once my register unlocks the domain for me. I had it locked so they could not transfer it. I am keeping it and making them pay in lawyer fees to get it cause they will not just give me my 10.00. it is no longer right or wrong it is a matter of principal for me. If any one wants the domain make me a offer all offers will be considered, but remember you too may get contacted by them. Thats why I am going to do a sedo page, the site was generating alot in ads a day so I figure with the close to 1000 uniques a day I was getting that should trigger some more cash.

Offtopic: How did you manage $30 a day in revenue? I only get a few dollars and I'm doing 3000 uniques a day

Yahoo ads have huge payouts just need to rotate your categories every few weeks. Some days I get 5 clicks and generate 30 bucks other days I get 20 clicks and get 5.00. Just need to target it well.

There something not quite right here, genxweb. Yesterday, the whois seach showed you as the registrant. But your nameservers were pointing to UPSIDEOUT servers. If you were the registrant, why would you want to point to their DNS, if you are in dispute with them? Today, the registrant is using Whois Privacy. Did you do that? Why? Why would Hostex Australia quote Proxify that they had already acquired the domain? It sounds like you are behind the curve on what's going on. I do see that you are still the registrant though at the Public Domain Registry. I'm curious as to why you are currently pointing to the UPSIDEOUT servers?

Originally i was going to comply with Justin request from proxify.com so in good faith i changed the domain servers. I then thought about it and read a few posts talked to a lawyer and decided to basically tell him to go to hell, that only way he will get the domain is by a certified court order or to pay me the 10.00 for it. Once he said no to the 10.00 and would not let me contact his lawyers to find out what was going on and why I had to surender my domain I decided to make it as costly as possible for him and canceled his transfer request. Since the transfer request was canceled the domain register directi has it locked where it cant be edited untill the 8th at which time I will sedo the page until it sells, a judge sends a official letter or the domain expires.

Well it could cost you a bundle if he takes you to court for trademark infringement and wins. If he takes it to an arbitration panel for cybersquatting and wins he might still have to pay you the $10 as well as a bundle to his lawyers, but afaik they won't (or don't have the powers) to assess damages/penalties on you (afaik)

It's an interesting case. Keep us informed. They're gonna be pissed as hell when they see you park it at Sedo.

They're gonna be pissed as hell when they see you park it at Sedo.

Does parking a domain at Sedo give you any protection in these types of cases? I would have thought it would make the registrant look like a squatter only interested in selling the domain? At least if the domain was showing ads and generating revenue, you could say you were using it in good faith.

Actually, what is the deal these days with registering and then auctioning domains? It seems quite legit now but are their still any issues?

There's no added security with parking at Sedo. It could as well be parked at several other places also. You are right, that it gives the domain the appearance of "bad faith" right off the bat. What I meant was when they see he has moved the domain away from their servers.

It was my advice that he kept using it as before, until the case it settled. All this chopping and changing around isn't building a solid defence against "bad faith" accusations. This would be especially true, if as others have said, that they don't have a trademark yet. Personally, I think he's doomed.

the names seem same, they may sue

the names seem same, they may sue

Are you a lawyer?

I'm not :)

Hey I always used to use proxifyme.com because I could log into sites w/o having to pay. I could'nt find any other sites out there better than proxifyme. I hate Proxify.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I am now in a very similar situation. I have a domain that I registered without even knowledge of Proxify.com just a couple of days ago, and have spent hours and hours of time submitting it to every single proxy list out there. I submitted it to Proxy.org, and then received an email back from them telling me that my site won't be listed because it infringes upon their main sponsor, Proxify.com's trademark, and that they have been instructed to relay this message to anyone who submits a "confusingly similar name":

Proxify operates an anonymous proxy service at http://proxify.com/. The "Proxify" name is a trademark of UpsideOut, Inc. which has been doing business under the Proxify name since April 14, 2003. Proxify has developed extensive public recognition of its name as well as having acquired substantial goodwill which is represented by the Proxify trademark. As the owner of the Proxify trademark, Proxify has an obligation to police the market and prevent unauthorized use of its trademarks. Otherwise, it runs the risk of losing its rights to its trademarks. Proxify has retained a law firm to actively pursure anyone who misuses its valuable trademark rights.
It was then noted that Proxify.com would be notified of the situation. I'm not going to disclose my domain here, but it does not even use the word 'Proxify', but if 'Proxify' was a verb, than my domain is just in a different tense, if that makes any sense at all.

I think that this is a bunch of crap, but I do not have the time nor resources to fight a C&D if I receive one, so I would just be forced to give up my domain that I have spent hours and hours on, is producing good traffic, and making revenue. That seems completely unfair, but that's the way life is sometimes.

I have not heard from Proxify.com yet, so in the best case scenario, they review it and decide not to act. In case the O.P. sees this thread now, I would like to know what ended up happening, and what advice you have for me. Advice or input from anybody else is appreciated as well.

Thanks.

At the time I had this issue their trademark wa no approved. In the security industry the word proxify is used alot to reference the proxying of traffic. The word it self Ido not think could just be owned by them or they will have to go after many security books to have the word removed. Iwould not give the domain up especially if the trademark is still not approved. Only reason I lost was my register code to deny the release of the domain to them actually released the domain. we are currently in legal proceedings with the register which looks favorable to us for amounts lost by their mistakes.

genxweb >> who's the registrar???

Thank you.

The register is staying nameless untill we ae done, dont want to jepordize anything

Stan, if you are a silver DomainTools member you could find this out by referring to the 1st message in this thread.

I received the C&D notice today, and quickly complied. I registered a new domain for a proxy, and made sure that it does not "infringe" upon anything.

Its unfortunate, but I'll just have to take it as a loss and move on.

Stan, if you are a silver DomainTools member you could find this out by referring to the 1st message in this thread.

Stu, I am not... :bawling: I have more pleasant ways to spend $ 15 per month.. :)

Any chance to get a PM from you?

Thank you!!!

Unfortunately, I'm in the same boat. It would be frivolous expenditure for me, as well.

Anyhow, back to David's point. I think you made the wise choice in rolling-over and starting with a new domain. The C&D comes first. This usually states as many ways as possible they can come at you, not limited to a UDRP/WIPO action (which potentially would cost you nothing). However, if they decide to take you to court for trademark infringement instead, then bye-bye savings.