I believe the answer is yes. It will be harmful in a WIPO case but there are other factors to consider in a WIPO so it's not automatically going to cause a lose...

Yep, having a name , especially underdeveloped, and offering it for sale to an entity that may have ANY claim to a copyright will automatically loose. It is not considered "Fair Use".

Here's a link http://www.icann.org/dndr/udrp/uniform-rules.htm#5http://www.icann.org/dndr/udrp/uniform-rules.htm#5.

WIPO follows the ICANN UDRP ( world intellectual property Organization, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy).

I would read up on this before you do anything.

Don.

EDIT:..

Am I dense, or do you keep asking the same question every week? http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/deci...2001-0001.html..

No - John the question is still there from 2 weeks ago when I asked it....

Don revived the old post by responding to it today.

However while we are on the topic.....I'm in the final stages of securing marketing right to a domain that was previously used (consistantly over a period of 6-7 years) in a particular business.

The domain is no longer needed for the "old use" - however the domain has significant generic value and in particular to a couple of large end-users (that are in completely different businesses than in the business that the orignal domain was used in).

My concern is NOT that these businesses could/would fight to get the name in general (that can happen any time)- but that their "case for stealing the name" would be strengthened by the fact that they could use our solicitation to them to purchase the name against us.

So I guess back to the question - can one solicit a business to purchase a domain name and include some kind of wording in the solicitation that would make it illegal or difficult for the business to use the solicitation itself as valid point in a lawsuit should the business try to steal the name from the domainer?.

Peace,.

Tarry G..

There is no straight forward answer to this quesiton since we would need to know the domain and the business yo uwish to solicite. But is the domain contained a TM which the business has rights and you solicite them, that could be used as a "bad faith" evidence. If the domain is truly generic in nature, it may be a different story, but people have lost generic names before, so keep that in mind...