The manufacturer is from Canada but neglected to register the .ca
I am an authorized distributer and the highest volume selling distributor in Canada, I sell thousands of bottles of this product.
The manufacturer does all the advertising and sells the product direct on the .com. I do no advertising and sell from the .ca. My sales rival his and make me the highest volume dealer in Canada.
So does being a distributor give you the right to register their mark? Something doesn’t make sense to me here.
It’s like owning someone’s TM and running an affiliate site off their products by confusing customers into thinking they are buying from their website.
So does being a distributor give you the right to register their mark? Something doesn’t make sense to me here.
It’s like owning someone’s TM and running an affiliate site off their products by confusing customers into thinking they are buying from their website.
Nope, I am there biggest AUTHORIZED distributor and have their blessing.
I sell a ton of product and I get all my product right from them so they actually don't mind.
It states very clearly on my site that I am an authorized DISTRIBUTOR.
I have had the relationship with the manufacturer for many years and we are actually quite tight.
From what I see the .ca domain has zero impact on sales. People search the product name in Google -- shop.mnm.ca ranks #2. The .com (ranks #1) site's ecom doesn't work at the moment - and, if it did, seems is more expensive for single unit.
From what I see the .ca domain has zero impact on sales. People search the product name in Google -- shop.mnm.ca ranks #2. The .com (ranks #1) site's ecom doesn't work at the moment - and, if it did, seems is more expensive for single unit.
Can you explain how? If you don't advertise, then it's people guessing the domain based on the wholesalers advertising? (or they type in the .ca despite the advertising using .com?)
(aside: you've got an issue w/ the https version of it - which is the one Google has indexed)
Yup people people see the .com and punch in the .ca and order from me, they feel more comfortable ordering from the .ca, that is the whole point of the topic.
Nope, I am there biggest AUTHORIZED distributor and have their blessing.
I sell a ton of product and I get all my product right from them so they actually don't mind.
It states very clearly on my site that I am an authorized DISTRIBUTOR.
I have had the relationship with the manufacturer for many years and we are actually quite tight.
I fully understand that you’re an authorized distributor. That doesn’t change the fact that the distributor must always respect the owners TM. If you have permission great but if the .CA was really a huge factor and your only means of sales (which I wouldn’t admit to) then it doesn’t take much for them to drop you in the future and claim rights to their domain name.
Again you seem to imply they do not know, I already stated the owner is completely aware and we even chatted about it.
I will fill you in on something I have not mentioned....
Years back the company dropped the .ca because they did not think it was important enough to renew. I picked up the domain as a hand registration a few years later and when I mentioned it to the owner he basically stated that he dropped it and wished me luck.
In ordinary circumstances I would agree with your trademark statement but in my case I have the companies blessing and and since I buy all product from them they are actually happy I am doing it.
Again... the focus of the topic though is that with no advertising I am selling thousands of bottles based on the power of a .ca that the owner dropped as unnecessary. I have clearly shown the power of a .ca when doing e-commerce in Canada.
PS. The other thing I have not mentioned... I am currently trying to buy the company, they are old school and do not know how to run an e-commerce site, their cost on shipping is over twice what mine is. Because my company does almost 2 million in sales annually we have really good postal rates. So even though my product cost is higher once you add freight I come in cheaper.
It is very difficult for them to make money on a product for $19.95 that has to be shipped. It is no big deal for me because my average ticket size is almost $200 per client so it is easy to tack on a bottle or two.
Sounds like this is a win-win situation for both sides. And I think it would be hard for them to go after you now for it, since they've allowed it thus far. Unless you started using it to promote a competing product or something like that.
If it is their mark and they’ve authorized its use, then they can also unauthorize it. So as long as they’re happy I think obviously there’s no concern. But ultimately if they really wanted the domain back I’m sure they would have a valid argument to get it back.
Note however that a CDRP would probably not apply in this situation. Anytime there has been some sort of agreement between the parties then that puts a simple CDRP out of scope. Their only choice would be to go to the court system instead.
I'm guessing that the .ca domain gets little organic traffic but gets most of its traffic and sales from the link to the domain that you have on your home page of https://shop.mnm.ca/
