Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#1

Post by jhubert » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:29 PM UTC

My friend and I started a simple company in the beginning of January just to start specking out the idea. We just bought the .com of our domain when we got started, and are now kicking ourselves for it.

It turns out that our startup might actually be a good idea. We received a bunch of press without really meaning to, and 19 days after we had bought the domain, someone from France bought the .org and put up a holding page that used some of the same copy we had on our site.

I immediately started digging into the domain. I found and archived the person's name, home address, phone number, list of friends, other domains, and whatever else I could find from the internet. I also archived his twitter account and his version of our website for reference.

Flash forward 1 month; As we get ready for our launch, the person has updated his website and started tweeting about it. His updated version clearly shows that he is building a competing product.

Now, I'm all for competition. If they had chosen a different name for their site, I would be fine with it. However, to me, this just feels like they are being a bad internet citizen and it really bothers me.

So, please advise. Have you ever been in a situation like this? How have you dealt with it? Do you have any suggestions for how we should deal with it? Tips, thoughts, etc would be really appreciated.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#2

Post by kaisdavis » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:33 PM UTC

I am not a lawyer, so I strongly suggest contacting a lawyer and telling him exactly what you're telling us.

I also suggest contacting the 'squatter' and seeing if he chooses to tell you a story.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#3

Post by slater » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:33 PM UTC

Some routes to take:

- Found a company with the same name, then send cease & desist

- File a notice with WIPO, nab the domain when/if you can prove that the person registered it in bad faith?

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#4

Post by JonathanWCurd » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:38 PM UTC

Do you hav any kind of legal registrations, trademark, business filings. If so send the cease and desist but also send a copy to their domain registrar maybe they will shut down the site.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#5

Post by JonathanWCurd » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:39 PM UTC

Not saying its the route I would take but you could share your story and the site name here and at other social sites like digg, reddit, etc and internet vigilantes might just do their thing to drive them away.

I have seen it happen before with design / logo theft etc.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#6

Post by nolite » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:48 PM UTC

JonathanWCurd wrote: post #5

Not saying its the route I would take but you could share your story and the site name here and at other social sites like digg, reddit, etc and internet vigilantes might just do their thing to drive them away. I have seen it happen before with design / logo theft etc.

seconded.. trying to go a legal route will cost alot of money and resources.. and do you actually even have any international legal recourse? not clear how without any real business or trademark. Social pressure works wonders though

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#7

Post by jhubert » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:50 PM UTC

JonathanWCurd wrote: post #4

Do you hav any kind of legal registrations, trademark, business filings. If so send the cease and desist but also send a copy to their domain registrar maybe they will shut down the site.

We have a company that is registered with the same name, and I'm filing for a trademark right now.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#8

Post by jhubert » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 9:51 PM UTC

kaisdavis wrote: post #2

I am not a lawyer, so I strongly suggest contacting a lawyer and telling him exactly what you're telling us. I also suggest contacting the 'squatter' and seeing if he chooses to tell you a story.

Yeah, just contacting him and asking him what's up was my first reaction. I want to make sure that's not a bad idea or that I don't say something that could complicate things in the future.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#9

Post by nickconfer » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 10:02 PM UTC

JonathanWCurd wrote: post #5

Not saying its the route I would take but you could share your story and the site name here and at other social sites like digg, reddit, etc and internet vigilantes might just do their thing to drive them away. I have seen it happen before with design / logo theft etc.

I'd go this route. It will help you out the thief, get you some links from any added press, and possibly even help market your company further.

Lawyers are expensive and you could battle someone for a very long time. Is that really what you want to do starting out the gate? You'll get too distracted by this, focus on your company. At the end of the day people type .com in first and if you have the links, your domain will show up first in the search results as well.

Re: Please advise: Someone is blatantly copying my startup, on the .org of my domain

#10

Post by jhubert » Fri, Feb 25, 2011, 10:35 PM UTC

JonathanWCurd wrote: post #5

Not saying its the route I would take but you could share your story and the site name here and at other social sites like digg, reddit, etc and internet vigilantes might just do their thing to drive them away. I have seen it happen before with design / logo theft etc.

Yeah, I like this route a fair bit. I'd like to think that I'm not the only one who gets frustrated by people who would do this type of thing.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion. :)

My hesitation on something like this (and also the reason I didn't put our company in this post) is because I don't want to give him any unnecessary attention until necessary. Plan of attack being worked out now...