AcquireThisName.com – Who and what is Acquire This Name?
Update:
http://registerbetter.com/2009/01/acquirethisnamecom-playing-better/
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The better question may be, “Really!?!”
If you’ve followed any of the domain name forums recently you’ve probably seen more than one new user seeking information about “AcquireThisName.com” and what they can do to get their domain name back from Acquire This Name.
To get the elephant in the room first, Acquire This Name has been slapped on the wrist knocked upside the head in a rather direct way by WIPO. From D2008-1162 by Tony Willoughby, AcquireThisName.com is chastised for holding hostage what was clearly a trademarked name, and that eventually was obvious even to AcquireThisName.com after Aquire This Name requested $160,000 for the name and after the UDRP was filed:
If [the fact that Domain Name was selected specifically for its attractive commercial value on the back of the Complainant’s goodwill was] ever in doubt, it is borne out by the response of the Acquire This Name Inc. sales agent on being told by the Complainant’s employee over the telephone that it was the Complainant, the owner of the DAVIS + HENDERSON trade mark who wished to acquire the Domain Name. If there was reason to have any confidence in the Respondent’s policies respecting the rights of third parties, the sales agent would have responded along these lines: “Oh, in that case, you should not be attempting to purchase the Domain Name, you should be submitting to us evidence of your rights and we will forward it on to the Respondent, who will then, if appropriate, transfer the Domain Name to you.” Instead, the sales agent, having frankly acknowledged the attractive value of the name, suggested that he might be able to reduce the price from $160,000 to $85,000.
Indeed, having seen the copies of the relevant Acquire This Domain Inc. webpages exhibited in these proceedings, the Panel is far from satisfied that the so-called ‘disclaimer’ is anything other than a cosmetic device designed to show Acquire This Domain Inc. and its clients in a favourable light in circumstances such as this where the client in question, the Respondent, is discovered to be in possession of a domain name featuring the trade mark of an unconnected third party.
This probably isn’t the only loss Acquire This Name has experienced, but it is the only one where they are so directly targeted by the complaint (Others). As a NamePros.com user pointed out, all signs point towards Acquire This name being an enom subsidiary or similar arrangement (And an email response to a trademark complaint came from legal@enom.com as explained in this post.).
Acquire This Name, Inc. is a Nevada corporation that was incorporated sometime between May and June of 2008, with a corporate address of “15801 NE 24TH ST. BELLEVUE, WA 98008″. The record with the Nevada Secretary of State can be seen here.
The company lists its secretary and director as Sarah Akhtar Cooper and its president, treasurer and director as Michael Blend.
On LinkedIn and other sites Sarah Akhtar Cooper is listed as “SVP Legal and Business Affairs Demand Media and General Counsel eNom,” ( http://www.linkedin.com/pub/5/a8b/895 , http://icannwiki.org/Sarah_Akhtar , http://www.sarahakhtar.tv/ ) There is plenty of information available, including her wedding announcement confirming it’s the same person, and more. On his LinkedIn page and on vator Michael Blend is listed as “EVP for Demand Media.”
Acquire This Name would seem to be a fairly large company, based on the number of different employees who are willing to negotiate domain name sales. Just a few of the email addresses shared from which offers to sell domain names originated: jacob@acquirethisname.com , Blake@AcquireThisName.com , trevor@AcquireThisName.com , elida@AcquireThisName.com
Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc.
Whois Agent ()
+1.4252740657
Fax: +1.4256960234
PMB 368, 14150 NE 20th St – F1
Bellevue, WA 98007
US
Update:
http://registerbetter.com/2009/01/acquirethisnamecom-playing-better/
Tags: @acquirthisname.com, acquire this name, acquirethisname, acquirethisname.com, bad faith, domain name, enom, expired, udrp, wipo
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