abcBrand

Chinese Buying Frenzy

The market for .com domain names has greatly heated-up in two areas:
1) numerical domains
2) Chinese single-character domains

Short (smaller) numbers have been selling strongly. Chinese buyers are also snapping-up the .com form of Chinese character domains. Such domain names are more useful in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan & elsewhere than .cn names.

Good single-character .com Chinese & Japanese names can still be purchased for under US$25,000 -- but not for long. There are only a few thousand such domains for the entire internet world. They provide their owners instant recognition, interest & authority. Some firms move or build their web home on the domains, others use them as forwarders to another (often country-specific) home address.

Korea for Sale

Korea-related Brand Domains For Sale

곧

굴

근

꼴

꽉

꽝

끈

농

눈물

늘

도박온라인

돈벼락

돛

들

떼

뚝

뜰

띠

록

막

밑

뱀

번

벼

벽

비밀

빈

뺨

뿔

셀

쇠

싹

싼

쌍

안

언

원

잼

쪽

츄

카이로

캄

커밍

타일랜드

텀

톤

틀

펌

핀

휜

흠

More at: StrongestBrands.com/korean

Russia For Sale

Russia-related Brand Domains For Sale

More at: StrongestBrands.com/russian

.com Power

Frank Schilling of Uniregistry and DomainNameSales.com has just released a video (watch below) describing a new landrush in top level domains (TLDs). Instead of .com and the present bunch of gTLDs (now 22 global TLDs such as .com .net .org .mobi .biz .edu .xxx .tel etc.), and also the ccTLDs (country-code TLDs such as .jp .uk .se .de etc.), there will be thousands more: .whatever

Frank Schilling claims soon we'll not look for usedcar.com but look instead for used.car

Maybe.

But there'll be a big gap in time when people are dissatisfied with the results at used.car or cheap.hotel - or as now, there's nothing at all there. The public will fall back to web searching and search engine recommendations. And it's likely the power of .com will remain extremely valuable...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=p75KeJN9D0E

RDNH ?

Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH) is effort to steal a domain name from its proper owner through legal complaint to WIPO (the World Intellectual Property Organization; or other official body) that a domain was registered and used in bad faith, and also infringes a trademark.

In some jurisdictions the RDNH finding can be used to bring charges. Legal terms & definitions differ around the world, but complainants guilty of RDNH might later be counter-charged with:

Attempted Theft
Attempted Grand Larceny
Robbery by Deceit
Attempted Robbery
Fraud

Two great websites highlight RDNH transgressions, and ensure improper complainants & their lawyers are remembered as attempted thieves:

HallofShame.com

RDNH.com

There are no automatic WIPO penalties, so RDNH findings need support & publicity.

--------------------------------------------------
It's not uncommon that trademark holders misunderstand their rights. Trademarks are registered for a specific class of goods, within a specified geographic region, for a specific period.

Others in the same jurisdiction may hold similar valid trademarks for different goods and services.

Other businesses can use a word or phrase differently, for a different product, with no registration, and not infringe trademark.

Lawyers may belittle these key points in hope of generating business, but poor understanding threatens the reputation & livelihood of everyone involved in a complaint, and can soil corporate reputation. Domain name UDRP (Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy) cases are read carefully by a great many concerned investors & officials around the world. Too many cases include misrepresentation or deception by the complainant, or abuse of the process (as with the P&G swash.com case). Beware.

Brand.com = Valuable

The domain name Brand.com has recently been purchased by the firm ReputationChanger.com for US$500,000

Their business name will soon also become Brand.com

Congratulations to all involved !

We've many brand-related webnames available to better position your business. Most are for sale at a lesser price than above, often much less. Buy now before prices increase.

Why Brand

There are great new opportunities for consolidating industries behind key internet brands.

Keyword or generic category web domain can supplement existing websites, funneling search traffic to assorted established brands, continuously generating valuable leads, etc.

Far-flung businesses worldwide share a need to access customers.

Portal brands now often go a step further. They brand a customer need, and such needs can be supplied by any of many worldwide vendors. Under the umbrella of the internet portal brand, order fulfillment is processed and delivered by subcontracted vendors operating to specification. With no exchange of capital, the supplier vendors bear the costs of building & stocking products. They become subsumed into the web-based brand.

Those who brand themselves can keep independence & character.

Why brand? Do it - or work for the portal brand.

RDNH & Attempted Theft

Reverse Domain Name Hijacking, RDNH, is attempted theft of intellectual property through abuse of administrative proceedings. The IP being contested are internet addresses, domain names.

Domain name owners are required to submit to dispute resolution procedures, which can be very costly in time, lawyers fees, and harassing impediments to efficient property management.

Why is this not yet labeled a crime?

Some fools file complaints in ignorance, not understanding IP rights and procedures. This is gradually becoming less of a problem as precedents and case law better clarify infringement, liability and bad faith.

More prerequisite rules would help immensely. For example, the internet is precise, demanding accuracy. If my address is "bank" it's not the same as "bunk" or "band" -- different by one letter or character is different. This is the same for addresses in Manhattan: 84th Street is different from 89th Street. If you want to buy fruit and go to the wrong address, perhaps someone there will sell you fruit. Reasonable. Businesses must provide potential customers with proper directions or risk losing trade. But some poor businesspeople seek to artificially & improperly expand their domain, claiming exclusive control of a wide region to which they've no proper right. Hopefully, a good World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) panel would quickly & completely reject such claims. But some strange decisions have favored cagey Complainants.

There aren't yet automatic penalties attached to RDNH in WIPO proceedings - this is a major problem.

Best Chance Now

I clearly remember an important investment discussion just after Christmas in 1993. My friend Rick was a doctoral student in Seattle, where over the previous two years he'd watched coffee & café culture blooming widely. He talked about coffee chain Starbucks, and how it had been a great investment opportunity he'd missed - and it had happened just in front of his eyes...

Coffeeshop growth in Seattle had a city block getting one shop on the corner, but soon there was a coffeeshop on each corner, and then a pushcart from the middle of the block selling coffee.

We compared possibilities and commiserated that we could have or should have multiplied our money. Starbucks corporate shares at that time were up nearly two-and-a-half times in 18-months. (Considering subsequent splits, the 1993-06-26 IPO calculates as $0.66 per share; at our discussion it was $1.40). But subsequent events showed the trend was still undeveloped, and the stock was cheap.

We were dumber than we thought.

We never should have then imagined opportunity was over. In retrospect it's clear the world was still largely untapped for coffee culture expansion, and there were no real signs of slowdown. We'd have been "early adopters" even in 1994. And it's similar today for internet domain name investment. Demand will hugely increase for the best brandable .com domain names. In 15 years, the opportunities available today will seem like diamonds on the street, waiting to be picked up, and now most people pass-by oblivious.

Populations are increasing, millions more people come online every week, new businesses are being launched, and internet usage shows no trend to shrinking -- the web is surely being used more and more.Very few people yet are active domain name developers, though the potential for inspired & creative usage of such intellectual property (IP) is amazing and still evolving, with huge profit potential.

Sure, some people already made money, and others (including me) are now positioned with good items for sale and ready to profit (you can buy abcbrewing.com or Seattlebrand.com or TokyoCoffee.com or Belgiumbrand.com while still available for $15,000 each).

But there are millions of opportunities to be developed at little cost.

MSN Money calculated a $1000 investment at Starbucks IPO being worth $6.4 million (2012-10-30 link). When they wrote that, share price was $45.87; today, six months later, it's $60 (2013-04-29; SBUX historical prices link) assuming their math was correct, your $1000 would now be $8.4 million.

Buy a piece of the internet; buy domains today. Best Chance Now.

Facebook vs Freedom

Facebook offers millions of people the opportunity to communicate & share, and it thus makes the world better, more interconnected.

But many people do not recognize they are working under the control of a private firm, whose policies and charges could change at any time. Your photo in Florence (Firenze) with Michalango's statue of David can be blocked as pornographic, your criticism of Dick Cheney may be erased, your private messages to friends might accrue fees or suddenly be deleted. Forcing your online existence through the changing proprietary gateways & templates of AOL, MySpace or Facebook is a sure recipe in frustration. These companies exist to make money - ultimately you pay for their services. Use them where convenient; don't fully rely on them.

What this means is that most technically savvy people should own one or more domain names. Use the convenient services such as Facebook, but also build your own free space where you can post your thoughts, art and history.

Zeitgeist & Creativity

The business of domain name development needs better imagery & models.

We can easily help one another by better explaining to outsiders what we do.

Big businesses have now garnished the lion's share of prime generic domain names, though they were comparatively late internet adopters. Rich businessmen helped popularize the word 'cybersquatter' as a derogatory term meaning "anyone owning a desirable domain property and not a major corporation."

Most domain ownership has nothing to do with squatting. Domain ownership is paid for annually. It's very seldom stolen or appropriated. The domain owner has developed a generic or brandable address, from tropes and cultural images, often where nothing existed before. Domains are thus valuable intellectual property, important IP assets. Perhaps you're an IP developer?

Don't let a skuzzy corporate arsehole tell you otherwise; never accept their flim-flam.

Apple War

Internet Paradigms

Some people view the internet simply:
"Here is the internet. It's free."

Of course it's much more complex. Individual & institutional developers provided infrastructure and technology to launch something almost miraculous.

How do we picture the internet? Images of the internet are still developing. Proactively defining what's happening minimizes confusing imagery. Don't quietly suffer from stories clouded by vested interests promoting their own agenda(s).

I see an unruly, largely unknown universe. Within this, a mixture of people & firms & governments have created a network of pathways and addresses. Democratically filling-out parts of a new map, we boldly go where no one has gone before ...

Some of our mapping and pathfinding is systematic, some far-flung. A broad range of people contribute to keeping systems operational. No single nation or commercial group could construct & maintain the wonderful contents now available to all humankind.

Where there was nothing we are building new addresses, to which resources such as inspiration, money, knowledge, passion, guidance, and directions are introduced. These are true New World territories, unlike so-called past "discoveries" that ethnocentrically ignored peoples & cultures already there.

Frictions exist with alleged prior art. We can be forced to wrestle with questions of legitimate interest or bad faith (link), but forward-looking pathfinders reorient toward new horizons. The legal system gradually defines reality - Who made the first apple? Can we brand Jesus?.

We build value & add value, we open pathways in the form of domain addresses and original content. Our timely efforts bring know-how, cutting-edge convenience, joy, survival & life improvement tips to billions of people. We are internet pathmakers, content builders and connection providers.

Web Scam: Slow Buyer / No Buyer

The internet offers many novel ways to do business, and increasing potential for clever people to support themselves via new models of work.

Unfortunately, some people use online / electronic systems for scams.

It's important to be careful with unknown counterparts about whom you've little or no information. What is their reputation or past performance?

You are not alone. Some businesses provide assurance in online transactions. Ecop.com and escrow.com have developed excellent systems as neutral arbiters, assisting businesses on both sides of a transaction. Ebay has expended great effort developing reputational rankings for buyers and sellers. These niche tools can still leave the unwary exposed to fraud, but they can be very helpful for moderate-size transactions.

It's also necessary to investigate scams specific to your own business field.

In domain name sales, for example, some people pose as buyers, contract for a name, but delay payment - they seek to sell the name onward before they've paid for it. Their 'sale' is secured by an unpaid but legally binding contract. If unsuccessful selling, they simply fail to purchase and disappear. Some sellers will keep a transaction open for weeks (even reportedly months) in hope 'buyer' finalizes the transaction. Domain name broker Sedo, for example, requires payment & remittance confirmation within six (6) days. But the seller's on the hook more than a supposed buyer - seller has some stable online presence, with capital tied-up as inventory. Until buyer actually pays, nobody truly knows who they are, or their level of commitment. The buyer can use an internet café and anonymity to cloak true intent. From the seller's perspective, a binding contract is time-sensitive. Price depends on quick completion. Those requiring longer to pay must negotiate terms, and likely must pay more.

Success Window

Don't lock your business (& future) into failure with a 2nd or 3rd quality domain name. Get the best or rename.

Don't delay. The badly chosen domain name generates regret each day. Own the best possible domain & you'll never regret it.

With a weak domain, you may be generating needs & leads for a more clever business. To continuously leak traffic to the category killer domain name is non-sustainable. It's a disaster. You financially contribute to your competitor's success.

The internet is a great tool for marketing and sales, still hugely expanding and becoming ever more important. For the first time in history, many businesses can easily & cheaply reach out to people around the world, selling products and services and ideas anywhere, 24/7, and at much lower startup costs than ever before.

Large & well-situated retail locations are less necessary. But a new basic cost is the correct domain name.

Don't build on a poor name; there's no substitute for the best name possible.

Don't build on a .net or .org -- and don't rely on a country code such as .cn or .uk -- these are shortsighted local names, with in-built defeat. Buy the .com or rename.

Those using lesser names give traffic to the .com -- the .com may be a competitor or might sell important business leads to your competition. If you set up shop in a basement backroom (with a .co or .biz for example) under your .com competition, most customers never bother to visit you.

A short, descriptive .com name is a vital business tool and increasingly the best path for eventual success.

Get a great .com main name. Then build traffic with additional keyword-rich domains forwarding visitors to your main website.

Pirate P&G

Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is in the news for a clumsy effort at theft.

Why would a highly respected $80 billion dollar global firm risk their stature, destroy trust, and become a business world laughingstock?

Maybe they were greedy. Maybe their ethics are poor... They watch big banks & finance firms doing scum deals and corner-cutting, maybe they want part of it.

Maybe P&G became decrepit & senile. Founded in 1837, they've a trusted place in many homes around the world with their great consumer products. But with one big lie, we begin to doubt their advertisements and product labels.

This story stems from a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) finding of "reverse domain name hijacking" against P&G.

P&G wanted the internet domain name swash.com but were unwilling to pay much for it. When P&G offered $600, the owners asked for $30,000. Instead of negotiating, P&G filed a complaint with WIPO seeking to take the domain name forcibly. They claimed the owner (Marchex Sales LLC) had no legitimate interest in the name, and had registered the name to deliberately infringe on a P&G trademark (swash).

Such assertions are often difficult to adjudicate. One problem is the same word(s) can be trademarked in assorted classifications and different geographic regions. "Swash" for example was registered in the USA by Arion International in classification 5 ("Pharmaceutical preparations used for washing and cleansing of patients; sanitary preparations for medical use" - Registration #3095805 May 23rd, 2006; first filed August 31st, 2004; first use in Commerce December 31st, 1969). P&G filed on September 20th, 2011 in class 7 ("An appliance for domestic use, for the purpose of removing wrinkles and odors from clothing and linen"). Others have trademarks in different classifications and in other nations.

Swash is a generic word, included in most large English-language dictionaries. The domain swash.com was first registered March 2nd, 2000, and acquired by Marchex over eight (8) years ago.

Anyhow, P&G claimed to WIPO (link) that SWASH was a longstanding worldwide brand, that P&G owned rights stretching back to 1993 with multi-million dollar sales; and that over the last 4 years alone the brand had gained sales of over USD 40,000,000. When these details were challenged, P&G as complainant was forced to admit the brand was only used in the USA, used there for 4 years total, and sales were actually below USD 60,000.

This is relevant not simply because of misstatements (lying), but because the guts of the case hinged on P&G proving they had a major brand position prior to domain registration. They did not, and they were labeled "reverse domain name hijackers." -- But they were treated kindly: more than five months went by before the decision was finalized. John Berryhill, lawyer for the Respondents (Marchex) noted: "the panel had a hard time believing that P&G lied about several things in the complaint, and gave them a second chance to explain themselves – which P&G did poorly. So, the panel is stuck with having to figure out what to do when a prominent brand owner attempts to reverse hijack a domain name."

In the words of the WIPO panel, this was "a grotesquely unfair attempt to wrest ownership of the disputed domain name from the owner" and that P&G "abused the process in an attempt at reverse domain name hijacking in contravention of the UDRP Rules" with their complaint. Such blunt slapdown of a beloved mega-corporation! Surely bad publicity for P&G.

More Place Branding

Below see more top efforts with place appeal:
(link is here for part one)

Brands of Spain

BrandsofSpain.com

-- great colors, but not a very attractive site.
"To promote & defend Spanish brands" -- why not use real people?
Lease or buy better names; link them to this site:
for example, BrandEspaña.com or SpainBrand.com

Hi Seoul Brand

hiSeoulBrand.com

-- only insiders will discover this boring site.

Site title suggests bureaucracy and is unappealing, proclaiming:
"Hi Seoul Brand is a name jointly used by the excellent companies
officially approved by the Seoul Metropolitan Government"

Lease, purchase and develop multiple sites to market Seoul & Korea.
SeoulBrand.com is a shorter, much better name. Get that name!
Korealize.com BrandsKorea.com KoreaBrands.com TastingKorea.com
Seoul's in competition with hundreds of dynamic cities. Wake Up !

Brand Victoria

BrandVictoria.com

-- juxtaposes Australia's state of Victoria & the city of Melbourne
Visitors are sure to be confused (the website is muddled)
Livability is extremely important, but this dark illustration is feeble...
Is there any visual identity to Brand Victoria?
"Melbourne, Victoria, Australia" lacks imagination.
Playfulness can help: perhaps Melbun.com or MelbnBrand.com

Brand Haiti

brandHaiti.com

-- Haiti is a tough sell. The site must offer more.
Get HaitiBrand.com (buy or lease) to also feed into this site.

Brand Glendale

brandglendale.com

-- an effort to market Glendale, California that solicits participation.
Not much action on this site for nearly three years. Sleepy & tired?
The Glendale Community Survey was gathering information,
but now lists as "closed" with no results posted. Bureaucratic arrogance?
It seems the City of Glendale Economic Development Division made a single payment to
North Star Destination Strategies for this brand plan & website, but there's been no
follow-up or maintenance... it all seems rather sad and pitiful.

Domains + brand

Great domains now on sale:

brands.com   offers over $1,000,000

Brand.com   offers over $500,000

brandpurple.com    $15,000

Manhattanbrand.com    $15,000

brandTibet.com    $15,000

koalabrand.com    $15,000

catbrand.com    $15,000

kickassbrands.com    $15,000

Strongestbrands.com    $95,000

Recently sold:

consumerbrands.com $65,000 (sold by Optimo)
directbrands.com $50,000 (sold by Optimo)
capitalbrands.com $20,000 (sold by Optimo)
brandspace.com $13,949 (sold by Sedo)
Oxfordbrand.com $10,000 (sold by Afternic)
Parisbrand.com $8,500 (sold by StrongestBrands.com)
brandcap.com $3,900 (sold by Sedo)
galaxybrands.com $4,500 (sold by Afternic)
brand-manager.com $3,000 (sold by Sedo)

Single-character x.com

OK, though not single character a, b, c domains, they are great properties in Japanese and/or Chinese. I truly feel ownership to part of every dictionary, landlord to a segment of everyone's schooling & daily life...
(each of these domains is available for lease or for sale)

Single character domains .com


委.com	xn--nxs.com	committee, trust to J= i, maka(seru) kuwa(shii)	C+	J3

肪.com	xn--p10a.com	fat J= bou 脂肪 shibou blubber	C	J8

踊.com	xn--ju3a.com	jump up, dance J= odo(ri), you	C+	J8

秩.com	xn--bnz.com	order, regularity J= chitsu, chichi	C+	J8

汰.com	xn--rtw.com	luxury, select J= ta ご無沙汰 gobusata	C+	J9

蛮.com	xn--jd2a.com	barbarian, nationalities J= ban	C+	J8

跨.com	xn--kt3a.com	step, straddle J= mata(gi), ko	C+	J+

匂.com	xn--rir.com	fragrance, smell J= nio(i)	C-匈	J+

頷.com	xn--yy5a.com	jaw, chin, nod J= gan, unazu(i)	C- 颔	J+

颊.com	xn--c15a.com	cheek J= ---	C+	-

踝.com	xn--2u3a.com	ankle J= kurubushi, ka	C+	J+

腱.com	xn--e70a.com	tendon, sinew J= ken	C+	J+

潟.com	xn--7fx.com	saline, lagoon J= kata, seki	C+	J8

茨.com	xn--xk1a.com	briar, thatch J= ibara, kaya	C+	J+

猩.com	xn--x7x.com	chimp, orang, scarlet J= shou	C+	J+

鯱.com	xn--7q6a.com	killer whale J= shachi	-	J+

鰯.com	xn--zs6a.com	sardine J= iwashi	C-	J+

鱈.com	xn--pt6a.com	codfish J= tara	C- 鳕	J+

鯵.com	xn--cr6a.com	horse mackerel J= aji	C-	J+

鰤.com	xn--os6a.com	yellowtail J= buri, hamachi	C-	J+

鱗.com	xn--4t6a.com	fish scales J= uroko, rin	C- 鳞	J+

勹.com	xn--iir.com	wrap, enclosure J= hou	C- 包	J+

煌.com	xn--bux.com	glitter, bright J= kou, kaga(yaku)	C+	J+

邑.com	xn--0d4a.com	village, state J= mura, kuni	C+	J9

醸.com	xn--gm4a.com	brew, cause J= jou	C- 酿	J8

込.com	xn--x63a.com	include, mix J= ko(mi)	-	J8

渋.com	xn--i5w.com	astringent, hesitate J= juu, shibu	C- 涩	J8

穏.com	xn--7pz.com	calm, mild J= on, oda(yaka)	C- 稳	J8

軒.com	xn--8z3a.com	flats, homes J= ken	C- 轩	J8

勲.com	xn--bir.com	merit J= kun, isao	C- 勋	J8

漬.com	xn--rex.com	pickling, J= tsu(keru), shi	C- 渍	J8

奋.com	xn--qts.com	strive, take wing J= ---	C+	J-

貞.com	xn--4j3a.com	upright J= tei, sada 國貞 Kunisada	C- 贞	J8

倫.com	xn--zwq.com	ethics J= rin 倫理 rinri ethics	C- 伦	J8

憧.com	xn--vku.com	yearn, aspire, flicker J= dou, akoga(reru)	C	J9

濃.com	xn--2ix.com	dark, thick J= ko(i), nou 濃度 noudo concentration	C- 浓	J8

徳.com	xn--l5t.com	virtue J= toku 徳川 Tokugawa	C- 德	J5

効.com	xn--ogr.com	merit, efficiency J= kou, ki(ku) 有効 yuukou valid	C- 效	J5

輸.com	xn--523a.com	transport, inferior J= yu, shu 輸出 yushutsu export	C- 输	J5

辺.com	xn--v63a.com	boundary, border J= hen, ata(ri) 渡辺 Watanabe	C- 边	J4

続.com	xn--bf0a.com	continue, series J= zoku, tsuzu(keru) 接続 setsuzoku; 連続	C- 续	J4

積.com	xn--5pz.com	volume, to load J= seki, tsu(moru)	C-	J4