The premium generic domain name Link.com.au is dropping due to, what looks like, someone making an anonymous complaint against it and TPP Wholesale or auDA accepting that complaint.
The ACN of the current Registrant is still valid and as of a month ago, the domain was simply redirecting to the large company who owned it.
As of this time of writing, $1000 was already ‘locked out’ on one of the main drop catching platforms, with only hours remaining until it goes up for grabs.
Wonder if the current owners know what’s happening?
I wonder whether the complainant was The Link Collective Pty Ltd, which registered a business name “Link.com.au” on 7 Jan 2020
I wonder whether The Link Collective Pty Ltd is related to LinkCo.com.au
Either way I suspect they will have to pay $10k+ tomorrow
Investors will happily pay $5k for this every day of the week
Very brandable and many uses inc a Tiny.cc style business
Bought by Luke Smorgon’s Activate Ventures Pty Ltd. High bid on Netfleet $12,600, suggesting the bid on Drop was at least $10,000. The bid level after that is $25,000. … Congrats Luke a great domain, easily worth $50-100k.
Isn’t the existing exact match business name mentioned above going to be a problem here?
Not at all. No trademark rights to “Link.com.au”.
It’s doesn’t need to be a trademark! As per the dispute summary:
For present purposes it is sufficient to consider the Complainant’s “link.com.au” business name. The
Domain Name is clearly identical to the Complainant’s “link.com.au” business name.
The Complainant has therefore established this element.
So does this have ramifications for the new registrant because it predates the new registration?
ASIC says no otherwise some people could just register business names to stop others from rightfully trading. It would also be Anti Competitive in many ways.
For someone to register Link.com.au when they do not have the Link.com.au domain name is plain stupid and a waste of their money. They may have thought it smart or some possible form of cheap RDNH attempt with an auDA complaint also… time may tell.
auDA needs to relearn this also and not cancel valid .au names for improper reasons.
https://asic.gov.au/about-asic/contact-us/how-to-complain/disputes-about-similar-business-names/
“Registering a business name does not:
“-give you the exclusive right to use the name or any part of the name
-prevent another person from registering a similar name
-offer protection of a name or a brand like a trademark
-prevent somebody who has registered it as a trademark from using the name or taking legal action to protect their trademark.”
____________________
At a global higher level
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=074d8d3d-cebb-4646-91d1-4c4c8b8a639f
Booking.com – Justices Persevere through First-Ever Conference Call Oral Argument to Hear Arguments as to Registrability of .Com Trademarks
Given the The Link Collective Pty. Ltd. lost their recent auDRP for this domain, you can bet your bottom dollar they were the complainant that triggered this domain deletion.
Looks like they’ll have to cough up now.
Hahahaha
Serves them right
There will be no buying this for under $100k
Agreed Adrian,
The new owners who bought this domain were very smart and got it for a bargain. This is easily a six-figure domain name that will NEVER DROP AGAIN.
Once a good name is gone it is gone forever.
I’ve had people call me back 3-6 months later “Do you still have the domain?”
Of course not, dummy. Someone a lot smarter than you bought it within 2-3 days of first contact. (Or sometimes on the same day).
If you’re right Joel… how and why did auDA approve this complaint?
I’m curious why the domain name dropped after going through all of the dramas of defending and winning the dispute.
Filthy Scum .au generic domain name Reverse Domain Name Hijacking at its worst and auDA is involved again with a wrongful Policy Delete after it went to auDRP AND FAILED?
Some people at auDA need to be sacked and auDA needs to be sued.
06/02/2020 16/03/2020 RI-auDRP02/20 link.com.au Complaint Denied
https://www.resolution.institute/documents/item/4191
The LOSING complainants are The Link Collective Pty. Ltd.
https://www.linkco.com.au/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/linkhq/
https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?facetCurrentCompany=%5B%2218176815%22%5D
Add them to the Domainer DOMAIN THIEVES listing and http://www.rdnh.com.au
Brad Minhinnick
Director and Co-Founder at Link Living – Property Management
Brisbane, Australia
Chris Tinta
Director and Co Founder at Link Advisors
James Webb
Director at The Link Collective
To be clear, the new owners of this domain do not seem to be the people who made the auDA Complaint. They went hard for the domain once they saw it on the drops, paying 5-figures, but there’s no way this name will ever sell again for less than 6-figures.
It is unclear why auDA placed this domain into Policy Delete, especially as “Peter” has pointed out, the complaint failed at the auDRP process…
Which single person at auDA approved this Policy Delete?
The current auDA Complaints Team is out of control. To me, and in my recent experience with them, they are making personal decisions that are more often than not WRONG.
They are judge, jury and executioners costing many legitimate domain name owners tens of thousands of dollars with their mistakes.
In terms of how bad the current auDA Complaints Team are at the moment… Domainer is hearing more and more examples of bad decisions being made by these THREE people who run the auDA Complaints process.
More examples will be coming to light on this website very soon.
Can’t blame people for trying.
When a business doesn’t have the right domain name there’s always something a bit off. A bit like a suit who has a weak handshake or a bad coffee.
It’s actually way worse for a consulting firm not to have the right domain name. If you’re telling others how to do business and you can’t even get your corporate identity right…
Wow. I think the real lesson here is if you want a domain just pay for it.
auDRP FAIL policy delete FAIL (not sure whether same complainant – may not be) .. Now any attempt to buy this domain from the new owner will probably FAIL also.
Shows it is impossible to get a domain name you want if you are not willing to get out your chequebook.
Real business people don’t send anonymous enquires from fake email accounts (or even legit ones without full contact details) asking if they can buy your block of land, enter into a lease or order a consignment of stock. -They introduce themselves, state plainly what they want and put up or shut up.
Real business people don’t try to take your block of land or disrupt your business when it turns out they can’t afford what it is that they want. That kind of activity is unethical, effeminate and ultimately impotent.
All in my honest opinion.
Be so much easier and more effective just to get out the chequebook and make a generous offer to begin with.
Instead of costing perhaps $50k or $80k the domain will probably end up costing $100k or $120k PLUS $20k in legals PLUS many months wasted. That’s IF the new owner is even interested in selling, which I doubt.
Link.com.au has just been sold
$66,000
https://dnj.com.au/link-com-au-sells-for-66000/
https://assets.com.au/link-com-au-sold-for-66000/