Advice needed - Domain theft!

Alfie_E

SkintBint wrote:

I have printed out all the invoices from the webcentre as proof that I owned the domain and hosting since 23.06.03.

I’m a little concerned that you would consider this as your primary proof. You should have had letters from Nominet, when you registered, and when you renewed your domain name. In the past, they used to include a nice printed certificate. Then, more recently, it was letter with a PIN, hidden in the same way as a banks hide their card PINs. You then use the PIN to log into Nominet’s website, to confirm you’ve got the letter, to confirm or correct your details and to download/print your own certificate.

If you didn’t get letters from Nominet, it means one of three things.

• You’ve been extremely unlucky, and they’ve got lost in the post.
• The address that Nominet holds for you is wrong or out of date.
• You were never registered as the owner of the domain name.

The last one is the most worrying. It’s possible that the company providing you with your domain-related services never registered the domain name in your name. They could have registered it in their own name, and simply let you use it. This is considered very bad practice, but it does happen.

First thing on Monday, call Nominet. While they are a company, they’re a not-for-profit company. This means they’re there to help. They have staff with the time and knowledge to help. However, if it’s the case that you were never the owner, they probably won’t even be able to talk to you about the specific details. All they’d be able to do is chastise the company you were using.

SkintBint wrote:

Maybe they sent the renewal reminder to an email address which I dont check anymore due to large amounts of spam?

They will also attempt to contact you by post.

Astaroth

newfoundglory wrote:

However, you should have been compensated by an agreed amount in order to hand it over (if you were actively using this name, i would expect this amount to run into several thousand pounds - esp if you use it for business).

Why should they? So far this year we have received over £250,000 compensation from people who were passing off by using our trademarks (or common misspellings) as their domain names. We have ceased the domain names and successfully sued for loss of business from the companies that were using them.

Really need to know when the OP started trading under this name... and esp if they were guilty of the second issue of calling themselves "limited" when they were not a limited company

newfoundglory

You have jumped to the conclusion because the whois record says "limited" that it said this perviously. This name has been transferred to someone else (and thus the details have now been changed)

Whilst you can stop someone using that domain name if you have the trademark, if you want it as your own as you own the trademark - in court the original owner is likely to get some compensation for that. I'm sure this would be the case if the name was registered before the Trademark came into effect, and the original owner was using it for business.

If the company which has taken over the name in question does not have a trademark their Limited company status is meaningless as this does not automatically give rights to the domain name. Domain names are first-come first-serve. This mistake is made a lot, and I see these letters at work where companies try to get away with it by threatening our customers. Companies think that because they have a registered Limited company that they are legally entitled to the domain name. I don't believe this is the case.

superscaper

newfoundglory wrote:

You have jumped to the conclusion because the whois record says "limited" that it said this perviously. This name has been transferred to someone else (and thus the details have now been changed)

Read the posts more carefully, nobody questioned whether OP had used "limited" until the OP posted this:

"I think the biggest problem is that you registered the domain name to 'Perfect Systems Limited' - I presume with the intention of setting up the company to match at a later date."

Even then nobody has jumped to any conclusion, only asked for verification if it is true.

superscaper

newfoundglory wrote:

If the company which has taken over the name in question does not have a trademark their Limited company status is meaningless as this does not automatically give rights to the domain name. Domain names are first-come first-serve. This mistake is made a lot, and I see these letters at work where companies try to get away with it by threatening our customers. Companies think that because they have a registered Limited company that they are legally entitled to the domain name. I don't believe this is the case.

This really depends on whether OP used "limited" or not. Like I said before they could have simply opened a dispute and lack of communication from OP (if contact details were not updated) would be enough in itself to strip them of the domain.

SkintBint

All, thanks for your input. I never registered this as a Ltd company, I was simply a sole trader t/a Perfect Systems (registered properly with the IRS etc but never at companies house). The company ceased trading in 2005 and I got it all shutdown properly and the tax etc sorted out by an accountant.

I really don't remember getting a certificate through the post when I registered the domain in 2003? Although I have proof I have been paying for both the domain and hosting since then.

Since around December 2005 there hasn't been a company homepage on the domain since I was still getting enquiries and I was no longer trading. I did however still use the four or so POP3 mailboxes on the domain.

I will certainly ring them on Monday but will find it difficult to know what to say - I don't want to get too emotionally involved!!!

superscaper

SkintBint wrote:

All, thanks for your input. I never registered this as a Ltd company, I was simply a sole trader t/a Perfect Systems (registered properly with the IRS etc but never at companies house). The company ceased trading in 2005 and I got it all shutdown properly and the tax etc sorted out by an accountant.

1. Did you register the domain to "Perfect Systems Limited" or "Perfect Systems", your earlier post implies you used the "limited" suffix?

2. Are your domain registration contact details up to date? As has been mentioned previously they wouldn't just send you an email they would have tried to contact you through the post.

scheming_gypsy

Is it the doman you want back or the fact you've lost your email addresses?

If the hosting did run out and Perfect Systems have done everything legit and it's just the email addresses you need back try mailing them.
They might reactivate the mail addresses for you or put an auto reply on for you asking to divert to another email address.

SkintBint

No didnt register it as Ltd.

Astaroth

When did you start trading as perfect systems?