Hi John,

You can try your luck at the registrar, but my company has/had an identical
problem and had absolutely no success. No one from AUDA or the registrar
(then melbourne IT and then TPP - long story but he transferred the domain
name) were prepared to act on my complaint.

The current holder of the domain in question claimed that the domain name
matched a 'brand name' of his company's, although I was under the impression
that brand names must be registered with the government. AUDA, MelbIT and
TPP all started 'umm..'ing at about this point.

Basically, I was told that I could sue the current 'owner' of the domain
name or I could use AUDA's arbitration facilities (at a cost of $1500). All
this work to prevent someone from using my business name on the internet...
Something needs to be done to rectify this gray area.

Best of luck with your case,

David Hill.

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Thomson" <john&#167;hep10.com>
To: <dns&#167;lists.auda.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2003 6:14 PM
Subject: [DNS] can anyone help me out with this query?


Hi All

Hope you had a great xmas and all the best for the new year.

I have a client who is trying to get a domain from someone else. The people
who own the domain are using it. It is goldcoasthomes.com.au. Their business
is called Dytor and Yates Real Estate. My client has registered business and
company names Gold Coast Homes. The domain owners previously registered the
goldcoasthomes.com.au domain name using a business name they registered but
have since removed.

Has my client got legal right to go after them for the domain name even
though they have been using it for some time? Under common law they can't
trade under that name since my clients own the business name. I just wonder
if they can get the domain from these people. Can anyone provide some
insight as to policies on this type of situation?

Many Thanks

John Thomson
www.hep10.com