Another lawsuit shows that domain names are important intellectual property.
I’ve written numerous times about web design companies holding a client’s domain name hostage. Here’s another cautionary tale about domain name ownership.
A Florida company called StableTracker.com, Inc says that its former outsourced tech team has stolen its intellectual property and its domain name (pdf).
StableTracker.com, Inc. says it contracted with the (now) defendants to perform a number of technical tasks including registering its domain name. But the defendant in charge of registering the domain name registered it in his personal name.
After the business relationship went sour, the company claims the defendants stole the intellectual property including software code and domain name. To make matters worse, it alleges that one of the defendants sent an email to an important business partner from StableTracker.com’s email account — using the email alias of the company founder and plaintiff.
Remember, if you control the domain name you control the email.
I think many people overlook how your domain name is an important piece of intellectual property. Make sure you own it.
DR.VEGAS says
Indeed.Over time-the domain owner will be the “tail wagging the dog”.