Question

Coco Sharpe is a software developer specializing in online games and puzzles. He has developed a revolutionary new poker game aimed at enhancing the skills of would-be poker players. Coco believes that he can make a lot of money selling the game online. Coco calls his game Coco Cardsharp, and he has received a registered trademark for the name. However, when Coco applies to register the domain name, he discovers that www.cococardsharp.com is registered to Janet Rollins. When contacted by Coca, Janet claims that she knows nothing about Coco’s game but that she is willing to sell the rights in the domain name to Coca for $50 000. What are Coco’s options? How should Coco attempt to settle the dispute with Janet? What are the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing online dispute resolution? What are the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing litigation?

Answer 1

Coco has missed background checks in this case. Domain name should have been the first thing he should have bought/checked before deciding the name. A domain name hardly costs anything and buying one before itself could have avoided his loss of 50,000 dollars now. But anyway, in this case:

1) Coco can think of changing the domain name (CardsharpCoco for example)

2) If he is adamant of going for CocoCardSharp.com, then there is no way but to pay for the rights. The various options are -

a) Come to a deal with Janet where you can pay her after a specific period of time when the game becomes a success

b) Consider the option of part-payment

c) Make Janet a partner in the business and pay her only if the Game takes off and you reach the required profit. Put a clause to cut her off when you pay the 50K. If she wants to continue to be a partner, then she should write-off the demand for the 50K

d) He can buy the rights from Janet by paying the requested 50K, if he has confidence that the Game will be a sure-shot success (Least preferred option)

Some advantages of online dispute resolution are - it is fast and cost-effective. Disadvantages are no human touch involved, may result in breach of trust due to data/information leakage

Some advantages of pursuing litigation are courts are involved and hence public, definite resolution due to co-operation. Disadvanatges are time consuming, physical effort required