I know that the title doesn't make any sense when you first look at it, but the best example I'll use today is this:

PRETENDING Google.com is brand new and not this bajillion dollar website thing we know today.

I'm interested in owning Google.com as a domain. Google.com currently on their site says something similar to, "The site is currently in development." But I know I can go to a broker or speak to a professional person that deals with website disputes where I already have a site built, and if I owned Google.com as a domain, I could post up the site already.

Now the question is, has anyone done / dealt with a broker or has had a similar issue with the above? There's numerous domains that I want that are currently "owned" by someone, but have no website - just a "there's a site in development".

I am afraid that unless you have a trademark for that particular word that was registered prior to domain registration date, then you have no choice but to negotiate a deal with the buyer who owns the name. Just because you built the site around that name does not give you an authority to own that domain.

I once purchased a name that I really needed and wanted. It was not a dictionary name and was owned by someone else. I negotiated the deal myself from over $3600 to $1200. It took about 2-3 months of patience though.

I was checking out on the net on the trademark portion earlier on the net, and here's another question I'm going to throw out at you - what if they have their name with that a word for a long time yet it's not trademarked? Can you go and trademark it and then go up / contact them and say, "I have this trademarked so you can't use it"?

Like here's another dumb example like my Google example, "McDonalds" restaurant has been around for 3 years. They don't have the name trademarked. I want to make a company called "McDonaldsGames" (AGAIN THIS IS AN EXAMPLE) and this "McDonaldsGames will have nothing to do with their burgers or whatever. I go and trademark it. Can I contact them and say I have McDonalds trademarked. You gotta change the name."

Is this possible?

Trademarks and domain names are intimately connected. The courts have found that rights to a trademark will give you certain rights to a domain name. To be specific, if you have a domain name like rabbit.com and if another party has the trademark "rabbit", the trademark owner will be able to force you to give up the domain name, if you use the domain name. (that's from the internet law book from my shelf)

However, you really have to consult a lawyer regarding your issue. I do believe you cannot start McDonaldsGames and then claim McDonalds to be your domain if the business was in operation far before you came along.

Registering a trademark is important, but a trademark can exist without being registered. In other words, if someone can prove that they have been doing business using a name before you, I believe they can even challenge your registration of the trademark later on.

This issue once created by monster.com, when .in domain is launched in India some one registered monsterindia.in and monster.in immediately in the same night, monster went to court and released the domain in 5 days

Regarding the McDonalds part, remember I was just using them as an example as if they were new. I know I wouldn't be able to use McDonalds in a url.