Eyes on domain trade

Not a money settlement, PLDT says on domain name case

2006-04-24T02:36:00.000-07:00

First posted 11:16am (Mla time) April 20, 2006
By Erwin Lemuel Oliva
INQ7.net

(UPDATE) THE PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) said it has decided to drop its six-year domain and trade name dispute against Gerry Kaimo, owner of the "pldt.com" domain name, in exchange for the latter's agreement to turn over several domain names he owns.

"It was not a money settlement. PLDT decided to drop the case after Kaimo decided to turnover the pldt.com and pldt.org domain names to us," Ramon Isberto, PLDT spokesperson, told INQ7.net in a telephone interview.

Isberto also confirmed that PLDT entered into a compromise agreement with Kaimo sometime in March. "This [agreement] has been lodged with a local court," he added, noting that Kaimo is in the process of transferring the two domain names to the telephone company.

Local courts earlier decided to deny PLDT's request for a preliminary injunction against Kaimo who had been accused of infringing on the telephone company's trade name, and for "engaging in unfair competition for using the trade name."

Staff at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, Branch 90, under Judge Reynaldo Daway, confirmed with INQ7.net that a settlement had been reached between PLDT and Kaimo.

In a text message, Kaimo confirmed that he had reached a settlement with PLDT. Kaimo's lawyer, however, declined to comment.

Sources said that a non-disclosure agreement between the two parties was among the conditions of the settlement.

The settlement ends one of the longest-running domain and trade name disputes in the Philippines between the country's biggest telecommunications company and an individual.

Kaimo is the registered owner of the domain name "pldt.com." His original website now contains the message, "in line with some admin changes, this site will be moved to www.kaimo.com."

PLDT had filed a 1.35-million-peso lawsuit against Kaimo, arguing that he was violating the company's intellectual property rights over the PLDT trade name.

A name isn't a trademark

2006-04-19T05:16:00.000-07:00

THE federal Government has been urged by an advisory body to fix up the business-name system to stop small businesses from inadvertently infringing trademarks, which can drive them into bankruptcy.

Five years ago, Tina Hanson and Bo Ernfridssin, who owned an online swimwear business called Absolute Beach, were given the shock of their lives when Swedish liquor giant Vin & Sprit told them they had infringed on their trademark.

The company argued it owned the trademark for "absolute" and "absolut" in numerous product categories and one was swimwear.

The couple fought the issue, having successfully registered business and domain names, but lost with legal bills topping $1 million. The business disappeared but the potential remains for a business to register a name that could infringe on someone's trademark.

"Under the current arrangements, people can set up a business, commence trading under a registered business name and be unaware that they are infringing an existing trademark," says the federal Industry Parliamentary Secretary Bob Baldwin. "This can lead to expensive legal disputes, loss of reputation, and, in some circumstances, may even result in a business closing down."

The business-names crisis has been a direct consequence of state government pettiness and undoubtedly has some connection to revenue raised from business registrations.

ACT Small Business Commissioner Michael Schaper in March called for the reorganisation and rationalisation of the confusing business-name registration system.

"At present, there are at least three critical, different types of business-name registration processes that a firm can use," he says. "They are overlapping and highly confusing." The rules also differ depending on what business structure is used by an operation.

"If you're a sole proprietor or partnership, you must register a business name with your local state or territory government," Dr Schaper says. "And if you want to trade interstate, you must register separately in each state."

On the other hand, if you operate a company, you only have to register once, with the federal Government, through the Australian Securities and Investments Commission - and that provides national coverage. But wait, there's more: "Finally, you can also take out a trademark registration, which is operated by IP Australia, and overrides any state business name registration or company title."

For some very small operators, taking out a trademark on a business name might seem over the top, but small operations of today can be the McDonald's of tomorrow.

Some years ago a variety of local businesses that were using the trading name Lone Star were contacted by US lawyers who told them they had to stop using their client's name.

The internet age with businesses registering domain names has opened up the world's eyes on the business names being used around the world and small businesses are more easily caught for infringing trademarks.

A name change not only involves wiping off the value of the goodwill created but also means new marketing expenses and can drive businesses into bankruptcy.

Now the Advisory Council on Intellectual Property (ACIP) has reported on the relationship between trademarks, business names, company names and domain names. It concludes that small business needs help to prevent an intellectual-property nightmare over the way they identify their businesses.

"These identifiers all serve a different purpose and misunderstanding of this by businesses may in result unwanted consequences for businesses," Mr Baldwin says.

Among ACIP's recommendations:

* Business names should only be registered if searches of the trademark register show there is no conflict with registered or pending trademarks in the same field of business activity.

fudotAmend the Trade Marks Act 1995 so that registered business and company names may provide some protection when they were used prior to the registration of an identical or confusingly similar trademark.

* Integrate state and territory business name systems.

The report also makes a strong case for state and federal governments and their respective agencies that work with small business to put more work into educating the sector.

It is ironic that something called intellectual property - which covers many assets of businesses, including patents, logos, slogans and designs -- have been handled in such a dumb way by small business and the governments that serve them.

In recent times we have seen an international battle where an US company secured a trademark for "Ugg Australia and Ugh-Boot". At one stage it looked like our ugg boot makers were not going to be able to use their own Aussie icon brand name.

Then there was another controversy when someone tried to register "Made In Australia" as a trademark, which would have meant local producers would not have been able to use the term on exportable goods.

Ahead of the ACIP report, Dr Schaper suggested a blank-slate approach starting from now would come up with a much better system to handle business names.

"Unscrambling the mess will require commitment from every state and territory government, and will be a good indicator of their commitment to genuine micro-regulatory reform," he says. "The nation's entrepreneurs and business owners deserve nothing less than a concerted attempt to tackle this issue."

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2006-04-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

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The recent trade in sedo

2006-04-10T04:58:00.000-07:00

Domain Sales Volume Increased by 68 Percent Last Year

2006-04-10T04:53:00.000-07:00

As the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is making news this week with the debut of new industry- and country-specific Top Level Domain extensions, the overall market for domain names continues to burgeon dramatically, pointing to continual, solid growth in the global Internet economy.
Last year saw significant growth across the domain name market, according to data analysis conducted by Sedo, an online marketplace for the buying and selling of secondary domain names.
Sedo's review of data from more than 25,000 domain sales demonstrated significantly increased interest in and value derived from domain names. Between 2004 and 2005, the volume of reported domain sales grew by 58 percent, to more than US$60 million.
During that time frame, the number of domains sold increased dramatically by 75 percent -- from 9,000 to more than 16,000 domains sold, Sedo said.
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Banner Year
"Last year was a significant year for the domain name market, from new top level domains approved and put into circulation to the heightened role of domain parking services to drive quality Web traffic," Matt Bentley, chief strategy officer for Sedo, told the E-Commerce Times.
"The significant increase in sales volume -- $60 million -- and domains sold on the secondary market in 2005 -- more than 16,000 -- illustrates how valuable domain names can be, and that people are trying to improve their online presence," he added.
This is for both personal and business reasons, Bentley noted. In addition, the study determined the following:
Between 2004 and 2005, the volume of domain sales grew by 58 percent to more than $60 million;
Between 2004 and 2005, the number of domain names sold increased 75 percent, from 9,000 to more than 16,000;
Sedo increased its market share of premium domain sales ($5,000 and up) from 59 percent in 2004 to 65 percent in 2005.
More and more premium domains were sold through organized platforms with volume nearly doubling to nearly $18 million, while the volume of private sales reported remained flat at approximately $6 million, according to Sedo.
Additionally, due to a massive increase in the volume of low-end -- under $500 -- transactions, the average price actually decreased from 2004 to 2005, but anecdotal evidence suggests that buyers got less domain for their money.
Flipping Popular
Research shows that "flipping" domains proved to be a sound investment. In a study of 37 domains that were sold twice during 2004 and 2005, the average domain gained 288 percent in value in just 230 days, demonstrating a significant return on domain investment.
"The domain name market continues to evolve and drive greater value each year, whether for owners of comprehensive domain portfolios, businesses driving quality traffic to their Web sites, or for hobbyists," Ron Jackson, editor of DN Journal, a trade publication, told the E-Commerce Times. "The analysis completed by Sedo shows the growing role of organized platforms for domain sales and the growth of the overall domain market. With these numbers as early indicators, 2006 looks to be another growth year for the market."
Cambridge, Mass.-based Sedo, whose name is an acronym for "Search Engine for Domain Offers," is an online marketplace for buying and selling domain names and Web sites.
The news about the spectacular growth of domain names comes as ICANN, the standards body that monitors the Internet addressing system, begins testing Arabic, Chinese and other non-Roman characters in domain names.
The Internet presently runs on an ASCII system -- with 26 letters of the alphabet, 10 numerals and a hyphen. However, people in Asian and Arabic countries, whose languages can contain thousands of characters, have been applying pressure to ICANN to include their native scripts in Web addresses.
ICANN said there is a need to continue supporting multilingual access to the Internet. "One challenge in implementing multilingualism on the Internet is the preparation of content in the numerous languages, alphabets, scripts and character-sets that must be accommodated," the organization stated

The recent trade in sedo

2005-11-09T03:37:00.000-08:00

The recent trade in sedo

2005-11-06T05:18:00.000-08:00

The recent trade in sedo

2005-11-02T03:34:00.000-08:00

GoDaddy.com(R) Offers New Domain Appraisal Service

2005-11-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Domain Owners Can Learn the Market Value of Their Domains in as Little as Two Hours. SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- GoDaddy.com(R), the No. 1registrar of domain names worldwide, both in terms of new daily registrationsand domains under management, announced today that domain owners can nowascertain the value of their domains with Go Daddy's(R) new Domain Appraisalservice. Available in both "Express" and "Certified" versions, Go Daddy'sDomain Appraisal service provides an estimated value of a domain name todomain owners who are either buying or selling a domain name, or, who aresimply curious as to the value of their domain. With "Express" Domain Appraisals, Go Daddy customers receive theirappraisal within two hours of submission. The domain is evaluated based onsix critical factors -- Top-level domain (TLD), Length, Number of Words,Number of Hyphens, Numeric Characters, and Desirability. Each factor isweighted and placed into a proprietary ratings algorithm, which thencalculates an estimated range of value. Customers receive an emailnotification when the Express Appraisal is complete, and are linked to asecure web page where it is displayed. Express Appraisals are available for$9.95/per domain. Customers who purchase a "Certified" Domain Appraisal receive theirappraisal within two business days of submission. Certified Domain Appraisalsare calculated using the same factors, weighting and algorithm as Expressappraisals, but in addition, are reviewed by Go Daddy's industry experts, whoconsider market trends and other qualitative industry factors that affectvalue. The customer also receives an "Appraisal Certificate" -- which statesthe domain's range of appraised value, the certification date, and anexplanation of the factors used to determine the appraised value. And, when"Certified" domains are listed for sale on Go Daddy's auction marketplace, TheDomain Name Aftermarket, http://www.tdnam.com, the listing is marked as having anAppraisal Certificate, which is readily available for viewing. CertifiedAppraisals are available for $19.95/per domain. "Domain Appraisal is clearly a service whose time has come," said BobParsons, president and founder of GoDaddy.com. "Numerous customers told usthey were interested in either buying or selling domains on The Domain NameAftermarket, but simply had no idea as to how to determine the domain's marketvalue. So we went to work to develop a comprehensive domain appraisal servicethat was based on a set of weighted factors and industry expertise -- andbacked by the Go Daddy name." "I was excited to learn about GoDaddy.com's domain appraisal service,"said Michael Forte, owner of http://www.homelessministries.com. "I own well over 130domains, many of which I want to auction on GoDaddy.com's Domain NameAftermarket; but I had no idea how to price my domains -- I didn't know if Iwould be charging too much or too little. With GoDaddy.com's new service, Ican quickly (and inexpensively!) determine the market value of my domains.I've already obtained numerous appraisals to date and plan to obtain more inthe future." To learn more about Domain Appraisals, visithttps://www.godaddy.com/appraisals. About The Go Daddy Group, Inc. The Go Daddy Group enables individuals and businesses to acquire, createand safeguard their unique identities and brands on the Internet by offering acomplete line of web development tools, including domain name registration,hosting, email systems, SSL certificates, domain auctions and appraisals, andcomplementary products and services. The Go Daddy Group includes threeICANN-accredited domain name registrars, including flagship registrarGoDaddy.com(R) (http://www.GoDaddy.com), the world's No. 1 registrar both in terms ofnew daily registrations and domains under management, membership-basedregistrar Blue Razor(TM) Domains, Inc. (http://www.bluerazor.com), and resellerregistrar Wild West Domains(R), Inc. (http://www.wildwestdomains.com). The Go DaddyGroup also offers private domain name registration services through Domains ByProxy(R), Inc. (http://www.domainsbyproxy.com), as well as SSL Certificates throughits SSL Certificate Authority, Starfield Technologies(R), Inc.(http://www.starfieldtech.com). The Go Daddy Group registers or renews a domain nameevery 3 seconds.

The recent trade in sedo

2005-11-01T06:48:00.000-08:00

The recent trade in sedo

Please pay attention to the domain trade!!!

2005-11-01T06:04:00.000-08:00

I just enter this market. I feel ther is a big potential in domain trade market. I would like share some information in my blog.