Need your help badly, anyone ms want my domain

[Talisman]

Today at 09:42 PM Keptic said this in Post #9
You have a nice avatar :-p

Thanks, Keptic. Thought she's a lovely lass, so I'm happy with it.

She's also wearing a 'talisman' around her neck which brings good luck, commands the forces of nature, and wards off evil spririts (like lawyers and nasty corporations)!

Cheers.

:bunny: :bunny: :bunny:

[Chris M]

Today at 03:42 AM Talisman said this in Post #8
xpguy,

You need to give this a lot more thought.

Like it or not, your use of their Windows name is not coincidental and the term (domain registration) is being used (publicly) in the context of it being an Operating System...... which is exactly that their product is. Though you may not like being told what to do by a large, powerful corporation in this situation, you really are infringing upon a trademark that belongs to them. And they have every right and legal opportunity to go after you to the fullest extent of their interests and the law.

Holding out at this point because you think you "might" make a lot of money from this would not be very smart, as you're the one infringing upon them. They owe you nothing more than "fair notice" of the problem..... and they've taken care of that now by contacting you.

At the moment, you can't even claim ignorance of this matter (which wouldn't have excused you, anyway). Should you go on now to worsen your legal position by trying to hide the real (and innocent) purpose of your use of this domain by creating some cute/bogus "open shutters" connection..... then you'd be doing this "after the fact." (You must realize that they would have already researched and documented every bit of information displayed at your domain and your registration BEFORE they contacted you.) So, making changes now would only demonstrate an intentional motivation on your part to hide, cover up, falsify, or defraud people about this.

Be careful..... and good luck.

(Let us know how this works out, ok?)

Talis.

As stated on vB.com, the only thing they can enforce is the removal of Windows Logos...

As far as the domain goes, Microsoft have no leg to stand on - They cannot sue him for having a domain containing the word "Windows" as everyone has them in their home - Are you telling me Microsoft could sue me because I have Windows in my house?:rambo:

Satan

[filburt1]

However the domain WindowsOS is clearly related to the Windows registered trademark.

[Talisman]

Today at 02:46 AM hellsatan said this in Post #12
As stated on vB.com, the only thing they can enforce is the removal of Windows Logos...

As far as the domain goes, Microsoft have no leg to stand on - They cannot sue him for having a domain containing the word "Windows" as everyone has them in their home - Are you telling me Microsoft could sue me because I have Windows in my house?:rambo:

Satan

You bet, they can sue him over a Windows-"something".com domain, Chris. That's exactly why companies register trademarks in the first place.

In this situation, a direct connection between xpguy's domain name and their registered trademark/OS product is obvious. Just look how at the way he used their logo in connection with his domain. There's no way xpguy can even pretend that the two aren't related:





This looks like classic trademark infringement to me. For that matter, I almost think it would be hard to find a more blatant example.

As they've notified xpguy, they own "WindowsXP" and "Windows98" ..... so they've already shown a direct connection how his use of a "WindowsOS" domain infringes upon their trademark and could reasonably be shown to confuse their customers looking for OS support for their Windows product from them; not from xpguy.

We're not talking about some legal fight between Speedy printing services vs. Speedy plumbing services...... in which case any resulting confusion would be incidental and there's no overlap in the customer base of the two organizations. And xpguy is not running a domain/website advising people how to install window panes, screen doors, and shutters.

The way I see it....... for Microsoft's legal department to eat this (xp)guy for lunch, they only have to show three things:

1. The trademark owner <<Microsoft>> owns a trademark <<Windows Operating System>> that is the same or confusingly similar to the registered second level domain name <<WindowsOS>>;

[Well, duh...]

2. The party that registered the domain name <<xpguy>> has no legitimate right or interest in that domain name;

[Meaning those rights belong to the trademark owner; not someone else.]

3. The domain name was registered and used in bad faith.

It's this third item at question now.

So what would a court look at? ...... xpguy registered a WindowsOS domain, plastered Microsoft's logo on that domain name, and started offering technical support services to the public for a software product that doesn't belong to him. The fact that he registered the domain as a .com address instead of .org or .net gives him an option to make this a commercial enterprise any time he chooses in the future.... another consideration Microsoft and their lawyers won't overlook.

If xpguy cooperates with Microsoft's request to transfer this domain to them and he sets up another less official-sounding domain name, he'd be okay...... But if he thinks he can fight their right to pursue legal action to protect their trademark or makes the mistake of asking (demanding) money from them to give up the domain, then his actions would demonstrate that his real purpose for registering the WindowsOS domain all along was to get some financial gain from this. Thus, he would just prove their case against him that he's operating in bad faith.

Talis.

[xpguy]

the only way the two are related are because i support people with windows problems what about winiebeta.net win is short for windows and ie is short for internet explorer the small logo is from a vbulletin style that is given away free. What about xpuser.com the same applies there, I have not earned one penny from the domain name so i am in breach of nothing in that sense. The domain name is to attract people to the site and around the site there is platered a disclaimer stating that this site is not part of Microsoft. Also they cant prove i have made any pennies from this domain so thats the worse excuse i have heard if ms lawyers think that and build there case on that i will rip them apart myself. In the real world you need proof not something that may or maynot happen in the future and if i did sell a product called windows something then ok yes but im not going to.

[filburt1]

Don't take this the wrong way, but if you don't even capitalize letters or use punctionation in your posts on the matter, I seriously doubt you have a hope of defending yourself.

[xpguy]

the guy in my post above (post 14) should also do the same before giving advice, i know what im doing, they wont get over me that easily.

[Chris M]

Never give in just because they are Microsoft

Satan

[Talisman]

xpguy,

You asked for our advice and that's what you got.

You want to argue this instead? Okay. Well, that's what the legal system is for.

Have a nice time.

Talis.

[xpguy]

lol i dont want to annoy people but whoever thought of this legal system needs there head rescrewing i think if people want to take others to court then they should pay for there lawyers not the guy who loosers pay for the lawyers anyway well here is a update my friends at neowin.net found out the domain was first registered in 1992 and here is my info:

Well i was waiting for the majority to reach a descision where i posted this email but its 50 50 so ill try this:

My domain name is registered with digitalhost.net and the admin is Australian, i have trusted him far and probably continue to do so but this attached document got me wondering.

As Microsoft is based in the USA and not in AUS this document is from a firm in the AUS.

click please to see it - uploaded on my friends site mine was down :S

Let me know what you think please.