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Not sure if this is the right place to ask but I'll give it a go. I simply require a little advice;

A very large hosted e-commerce platform emailed me a while back and basically asked me to transfer my domain name to them. They made no offer but simply said 'why not change your domain to xx - xx instaead of xxxx'

Not they own all the equivalent names in .com, .org all of them apart from my .co.uk I am a registered partner of theirs and my website is a portfolio of all my themes but I also get a lot of enquires through it. I had heard rumors this company is opening an office in the UK!

I'm right in thinking I shouldn't just roll over right? I've put some much effort in to SEO and building my reputation... I can't just give it up surly?

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    You're being a little too vague. For example, if your domain is simply productname.co.uk and they have trademark on the app name or whatever, they may actually have basis for seizing the domain(I have no idea how this might work in the UK) and are actually trying to be nice, for now. You should probably talk to a proper lawyer to figure out what your legal standing is.
    – Su'
    Jul 17, 2012 at 9:21
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    I think I know who you are and I think I know what domain you're talking about ;) It might be tricky as it contains their brand name, I'd definitely put a notice on the site saying "we are not officially endorsed by XXX"
    – Dunhamzzz
    Jul 17, 2012 at 11:09
  • Don't roll over you're not stealing business and your not competing against them as a hosted ecommerce site. Just like toyotaparts.com isn't owned by Toyota but redirects to a large ecommerce site selling auto parts. Contact your local bar association if your in the US or equivalent in your country where you can get free legal advice from attorneys. If you're interested in selling tell the attorney if not ignore the email. What would happen if you had a generic domain, yet a category page was ranking as highly as you do now?
    – Anagio
    Jul 18, 2012 at 7:19
  • You might also consider asking them to make an offer, if only to be informed of hte possibilities
    – Mawg says reinstate Monica
    Mar 1, 2017 at 8:03

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Asking a bunch of non-lawyers for answers might get you into a bad situation. Talk to a layer that is well seasoned in domain name rights.

That said, there is a chance you could straight up lose the name with nothing but a court order to hang on your wall. Back in the old days you could hang onto it and sell it for a good profit, but with laws that passed a while ago, big business can come and take pretty much any name they want. If you think it is worth the fight, go talk to a lawyer.

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As you've mentioned it is a .UK domain, be advised that Nominet have quite a good Dispute Resolution Process if it comes to that...

You state that:

I am a registered partner of theirs and my website is a portfolio

It may not apply in your case, but normally, BigCo includes strict rules about using their name (or their products) in your own web-presence so be mindful that you might be in breach of your agreement.

I'd talk to them... but don't give in too easily - and get PROPER legal advice before pushing on too far.

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