Obscure clothing company wins fbomb.com in arbitration.

In January I wrote about an ongoing auction at Sedo for the domain name Fbomb.com. Here’s what I wrote:

“FBomb.com – $1,500 – so many uses”

There are so many uses because of the generic meaning of f-bomb.

So I was surprised to notice a few weeks later that fbomb.com was in arbitration at National Arbitration Forum. I contact the owner who told me that the company that won the domain at Sedo filed for arbitration.

Here’s what happened:

1. The complainant owned fbomb.com and used it to sell sportswear for extreme sports. He let the domain expire.

2. The respondent won fbomb.com at a GoDaddy auction. He no doubt was attracted to the wildly popular generic term.

3. Having acquired this great generic domain name, the respondent offered it for sale.

4. The complainant, realizing he’d let the domain expire, tried to buy it. Although the details written in the decision are somewhat murky, it appears that he placed a $1,500 offer for the domain at Sedo. The respondent sent the domain to auction, where complainant won it for $4,101.

5. Upset about having to pay so much for his mistake, the complainant filed a UDRP.

There may be more to it, but this is how I interpret the panel’s decision.

But the arbitrator, who had probably never heard the term f-bomb before, seemed to think that this small clothing outfit in California had established a secondary meaning for the term. (The respondent probably didn’t know this, since there were no trademarks filed.) That’s like me starting a clothing line in Austin called LOL and claiming rights to the domain LOL.com.

Here’s one choice line from the arbitrator:

Respondent allegedly registered the fbomb.com domain name on [the day it expired], and immediately began offering it for sale. The Panel finds that this further evidences Respondent’s lack of rights and legitimate interests.

Gasp! Someone bought a generic domain name and immediately started offering it for sale. How dare they!

Software giants fail to get domain name SAP-Microsoft.com.

What happens when two of the world’s biggest software companies, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) and SAP (NYSE: SAP), team up to do battle? They lose.

A World Intellectual Property Organization panel found that an Israeli man should be able to keep the domain name SAP-Microsoft.com. But it was a close call, with the arbitrator finding that he wasn’t quite convinced that the domain name was registered in bad faith.

You can blame SAP’s lawyer for that (SAP took the lead on the case and received Microsoft’s permission to pursue it). According to the panel’s decision, SAP argued that the domain owner responded to SAP’s offer of $1,000 for the domain name by asking for $9,500. But SAP left out a detail — that the $9,500 offer was in response to a separate communication by SAP asking the domain owner to name a price to expedite the matter.

Before leaving this topic, it is right to point out that, as claimed by the Respondent, the Complainant’s failure to include in its evidence the Complainant’s representatives’ email of October 9, 2008 gave a very different slant to that correspondence. The Respondent’s figure of USD 9,500 was not a response to the Complainant’s opening offer of USD 1000, but a response to the Complainant’s representatives’ invitation to name a figure. In the event nothing has turned on it, but if parties are going to exhibit correspondence, they should be careful to ensure that either it is complete or, if it is not, that the selection fairly illustrates the complete picture.

Had SAP been upfront about its communications, it might have tipped the scales in its favor. But this shadow of doubt may be why the arbitrator decided the domain shouldn’t be handed over.

DNForum barely tops NamePros in survey.

A survey of 401 domainers says that DNForum is the best domain name forum — but just barely. Of the survey participants who selected a choice, 47% voted for DNForum and 42% voted for NamePros. DomainState came in third with 11%, and AcornDomains received 2%.

But other than deciding which forum is “best”, there are some other relevant questions that I’d like your feedback on.

Are domain forums as relevant for discussion as they once were?
I didn’t include any of the exclusive domain name forums in the survey, but many people wrote in Domain Boardroom. Why do many people prefer Domain Boardroom to mass market domain forums? I think a lot of it has to do with the degradation of meaningful discussions at forums. Apparently a lot of people have nothing else to do other than pick fights on forums all day.

That’s not to say these forums aren’t helpful. I stopped by NamePros today and saw several threads whereby I was able to guide people making decisions.

Are domain forums still a good place to sell domains?
Domain forum0s are certainly struggling in this category. Blame the massive amount of crappy domain names listed for sale. Three or four years ago the inventory was mostly good, now it is 99% bad. Forums are starting to segment the junk with “high priced” sections. For example, NamePros has a moderated section exclusively for domains over $1,000.

What do you think? Are forums still as useful as they were in the past? Are you spending more or less time on forums?

In battle for domainers, which domain name registrars deliver?

In the 2009 Domain Name Wire survey, I once again asked domainers what the most important factors were when selecting a domain name registrar. Here were the top four responses:

1. Security
2. Price
3. Customer Service
4. Account Management tools

With these top considerations in mind, which registrars make sense for large portfolio holders? A couple immediately come to mind (I should note that GoDaddy was voted top registrar overall).

The first, based on personal experience, is Moniker. I keep most of my domains there. Not only is pricing competitive, but there are several levels of security you can apply to your account. Although the user interface could use some work, I like being able to bulk manage up to 5,000 domain names with the click of a button.

Another top registrar for domainers, based on feedback from others, is Fabulous. It offers good pricing and has a reputation for great customer service.

There’s another benefit to using one of these two registrars: selling your domains. Moniker gives you access to selling on both SnapNames and in live auctions; Fabulous gives you access to Domain Distribution Network (and perhaps soon direct listings on NameJet).

There are other domain registrars that focus mostly on the domainer crowd, such as Rebel.

Which registrars do you think are best for domainers?

Review and rate domain name registrars at Registrar Judge.

Dell releases Adamo computer; domain registrar Tucows owns Adamo.com

[Update: Dell has purchased Adamo.com.] I track domain name registrations by Dell (NASDAQ: DELL) on a regular basis. The company is no slacker when it comes to registering or requesting transfer of any domain that includes its trademarks. Which is why this story on OneDegree.ca is surprising.

Dell launched its sleek new Adamo laptop but didn’t procure the domain name Adamo.com. Dell is using the domain AdamobyDell.com, but many confused people are typing in Adamo.com. Adamo.com is owned by Tucows (AMEX: TCX) as a last name in its NetIdentity portfolio.

Here’s Bill Sweetman, General Manager of Tucows’ Yummy Domains, explaining what happened:

Dell never approached YummyNames although they claim a broker approached us anonymously and got the impression it would be too much money, but no one here has any knowledge of that exchange and, besides, we also offer domain name leases for as little as $750 a month. We subsequently reached out to Dell’s ad agency, Enfatico, when we noticed a traffic spike to the domain dating back to the CES announcement of the laptop in December. We are fans of Dell and want to help them out but they seem to think even $750 is too big an investment for a global product launch. We are all stunned that Dell, of all companies, doesn’t get the value of a good domain name!”

$750 a month? Dell’s customers will ultimately find its web site (especially since Tucows has added a link to Adamo.com), but this seems like small price to pay to avoid consumer confusion.