Okay, so my dad is a lawyer. Ten years ago, a client of his asked him to register the domain name "californiacountry.com" because he made furniture and that was his business name. Unfortunately, he didn't actually do anything with the domain name, and it sat unused for years. Because he didn't actually need it, it remained technically my dad's property and not the client's.
Well, about a year ago, the corporation California Country (which is a farming... thing, I don't know the details) contacted my dad and asked how much it would cost for the website. My dad, who hadn't even thought about the site in years, told them it wasn't for sale, but if it was, it would probably cost around ten thousand dollars. Keep in mind that California Country has existed for longer than my dad owned the website and they just now, at this point, contact him.
A few months later, they sue him. Not the client, my dad, for attempting to register a domain name and sell it to the company whose name it was trademarked with (which is illegal) even though he was the one contacted and he specifically told them that it wasn't for sale. Remember that it's obviously untrue that he registered the domain name to sell it later; his client had a legitimate business with the same name, and that this isn't a trademark dispute, as it's impossible to confuse a small business that makes furniture in Southern California with a Northern Californian farming thing. Keep in mind that suing a lawyer instead of the client is, to my knowledge, virtually unheard of.
Well, in a surprising twist, after four months of wasting my dad's time in court, they lose the case and my dad retains the rights to the domain name, and if you google "California Country," your first result is "californiacountry.org."
Sadly, about a month ago, my dad's client died for unrelated reasons. This means that he has no use for the domain name, but he has chosen to keep it anyway. He is considering putting a picture of his client on the otherwise single blank page on the website just as a final insult to California Country.
--
Not changing this sig until I decide to change this sig.
Started: July 6, 2005