Website with the same name as mine!

Evening all. 

I've no idea if there is anything I can do about this, however this evening I came across a website that uses almost the exact same domain name as my website/business. They also do the exact same thing that I do. I had a look around and I bought my doamin and set up my website more than 3 years before them. 

My site >>  www.crystal-jewels.co.uk

Their site >> The same but without the hyphen.

Is there anything I can do about that?

Very doubtful unless you have a huge pot of money to go at, have a word with Karen Hensam

Denise

Do you have the trademark or even company name? Best person to speak to is Karen Hensmann who is the IP queen.

From a user perspective, I wouldn't use their site as it's quite poor and has adverts (why?) on their site, and yours if much more refined.

Difficult. Unfortunately.

There is no registered trademark, and domain names can be registered by anyone. For domain names there is a dispute resolution procedure, but you will need to show that the registration was abusive. If you do not have a registered trademark, you will need to show that you have a reputation. For both, you will need to demonstrate that people are likely to be confused into believing that there is a connection between the two businesses.

The law is complex, but the position is simple: do you know of any instances of confusion, say, a customer stating that bought from them believing that it was believing it was you or made a complaint to you about a product bought from them? If so collate the information and let me, or a lawyer in this area, have the information and give you initial free advice.

Interesting one. My site is www.excel-expert.com and I have a competitor withe the www.excelexpert.com domain name.

We have been in communication about working on a a few projects together but the domain name has been much of a problem for either of us.

I personally dont think their is anything either of us could do because the terms are so generic, we are in different countries and neither of us have any trade marks etc.

I would concentrate on protecting yourself in other ways. For example ensure your branding makes it very clear that there is a dash in your domain name so people dont forget it when typing in the domain name.

Thank you for the recommendations folks but Ronnie is spot on.

If you want to chat get in touch but Ronnie is right.

The problem with product based sites is that you can work hard on reputation, for someone to piggy back on your hard work or even damage that reputation. Although important for services, the site is not as important as normally there will be contact before the service is taken.

If you have a very good business based on a certain domain then sweeping up all the alternaitves (including misspelt ones) can be worthwhile but for most of us the hyphen is a valid difference.

EDIT: You registered your domain in 2008 and they registered theirs in 2011 so you must have left that one free for them to get!

You claim to be a limited but they don't offer the same claim but if they are actually a limited company with the same name without the hyphen then they have a solid case to use the domain.

Both companies fail to display the required legal info on thier site.  In your case you have at least tried a bit.

 

Thank you guys. It looks like there isn't anything I can do about it. A bit frustrating.

So you have some more information:

When I registered my domain I wanted CrystalJewels.co.uk but this WASN'T available at the time. I checked to see if there was a live site or company registered under that name and there wasn't. So I put the hyphen in the middle of my domain and went ahead. 

My business is registered as Crystal Jewels and is no longer a LTD company. This is why there is no mention of my business being LTD on my website. 

Hi April,

Your returns policy is where I noted your were ltd and had a hyphen, so you will need to get that changed. http://www.crystal-jewels.co.uk/returns

 

Maybe you could Trademark then ask/buy the domain. (inquire discreetly)

 

The domain names you've both chosen are quite generic 'Crystal Jewels' - and a search on Google lists both businesses, so in a way that works. This is a problem that is always likely to arise with using generic names. Had you chosen say 'Divine Crystal Jewels' that is much easier to make unique to you, both in naming and marketing.

Thank you. I've amended it. 

 

The thing i'm worried about is people searching for my website bu typing in ' Crystal Jewels' into the likes of google and coming across that website instead of mine. Also if there is ever any bad reviews of that website for what ever reason then it's going to have an impact on my business. 

Hi

it's closing the door after the cat spilt the milk, but it is always worth registering close doman names, so look out for .co.uk and .com versions of your name if they come available.

The one without added punctuation, such as the hyphen, is always the preferred one as people will forget to put something in rather than add an extra "hyphen".