Squatters/speculators and trademarks

[dasmith77]

Hi, tried this question on another legal related forum and didn't have much luck.

I'd like to start a website for people to trade coupons. Most of the domains I check out are taken by squatters/speculators. They are the generic templated sites with google adsense or yahoo or whoever's ads, loosely related to the words the visitor typed into the URL bar.

Although in reality I might be able to buy one of those domains from the squatter for not too much (a few hundred $ maybe?), I'd really like to know if there's any other way to go about it.

For instance, coupontrading.com is squatted, but there is no registered trademark on the name (either with or without the .com). Has anyone heard of someone with a legitimate business interest and a trademark petitioning ICANN to transfer the domain, even though the domain was registered before the trademark? I realize this is very close to reverse domain hijacking, the distinction being that that practice is commonly used to take domains away from people with a business or personal interest beyond scalping said domain.

I realize this is a sensitive subject, and many folks believe that domain speculation is right good and dandy, and quite fit with capitalistic principles. Certainly it's legal for the most part (and yes it could be said that I'm looking for a "loophole"). I'm not interested in getting into a fight about that, merely inquiring if any potential owners had had experiences like this that they were able to resolve in their favor. And I certainly realize SEO and quality content are more important than the domain name, but it'd be nice to have both.

[Julie]

You can't steal ownership of a domain simply because you have a business IDEA.

[dasmith77]

I should have phrased it differently. I'm certainly willing to follow it though and develop a site first, under a different name, with appropriate trademarks, etc. I am curious if at that point there is anything possible to "steal" as you tactfully and politely put it, the site which was only put up for speculative purposes.

[StupidScript]

Has anyone heard of someone with a legitimate business interest and a trademark petitioning ICANN to transfer the domain, even though the domain was registered before the trademark?

The short answer is: No.

What you describe (find parked domain, apply for trademark based on that domain name, try to get the domain through administrative means) does qualify as reverse domain hijacking. You should be able to do as you describe, however, by simply purchasing the domain from whoever has parked it. I have no idea how much that would cost, but it's your only avenue, if you really want to use a particular established domain name, particularly one that pre-dates your trademark application.