Here’s the case of a non-domainer that has been sued by some of the biggest companies in the world for registering variations of their trademarks and seems not to be a bit bothered by the whole thing.
Meet, Alf Temme, the owner of a California company that sells an exercise machine for $14,615.
In March, Microsoft filed a lawsuit against him and his son Lars over 24 domain names, such as ho0tmail.com and hot5mail.com, that redirect to his company’s Web site, fastexercise.com.
Microsoft’s complaint (PDF)
Microsoft alleges that Temme violated the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) and infringed on Microsoft’s Hotmail and MSN trademarks and asked for the ACPA-maximum $100,000 per domain in damages, or a total of $2.4 million.
Temme, who said he (and not his son) indeed owns the domains, said simply to reporters:
“They could have just sent us a little letter and we’ll hand (the domains) over to them,” Temme said. “This is kind of a strange thing that a large company (would) go at it like that.”
Here are the 24 domains at issue
ho0tmail.com
hotma9l.com
hnotmail.com
hlotmail.com
hotmajil.com
hotmaipl.com
ho6mail.com
ho9tmail.com
hotma8l.com
hotgmail.com
hot5mail.com
hogtmail.com
hotma9il.com
hbotmail.com
hoftmail.com
ho6tmail.com
hotmailp.com
hotmawil.com
hotmzail.com
h9tmail.com
hotmauil.com
hotmakil.com
h9otmail.com
mzsn.com
None of the domains went to a PPC page, instead all the domains were redirected to fastexercise.com the site where, Temme’s company sells the ROM Time Machine exerciser for $14,615.
You read it right.
$14,615 per machine.
The company regularly advertises in the Robb Report touting it as the best exercise machine in the world which happens to cost over $14K.
This is not Temme first run in with a Fortune 500 company.
In 2007 Temme was sued by Dell for registering infringing trademark domains and sending the traffic to affiliate programs according to DomainnameWire.com
In Dell v. Temme, a federal judge awarded Dell nearly $130,000 for willful trademark infringement and attorney fees, and ordered an injunction against the use of the domains.
That case involved such domain gems as d3ell.com, de3ll.com, d4ell.com, de4ll.com, dedll.com, derll.com and dxell.com.
AAA, Air France, Alaska Airlines, Register.com, IMDb and America Online also allegedly have sued Temme over typosquatting.
Though he freely admits to “typosquatting,” Temme is complains that Microsoft never sent him a cease-and-desist letter, instead making its first move in court.
He has maintained that he would have surrendered the Web addresses, and still would, if Microsoft asked nicely.
Well Microsoft apparently did not ask nicely, but went straight to court and filed suit.
Last week, Temme got a letter from Microsoft with a settlement offer of $500,000.
Temme didn’t like this any better.
“What Microsoft is in effect trying to do is put a small company of eight employees out of business, “It’s extortion! All they could have wanted to do was get the domain names.”
Temme is quoted as saying: “I’m not one of those meanies who went hiding,” he said. “I’m not one of those evil typo dudes.”
He said he plans to transfer all 24 of the domain names in question to a new account on Moniker.com, where he said he registered the typos more than 10 years ago. Then he’ll offer them to Microsoft, he said.
He sees typosquatting as just another form of advertising. “Even though this typosquatting isn’t very nice and clean advertising,” he said, “no form of advertising is nice and clean.”
Right
Now for professional domainers the one thing to take away from this story is the commonly held believe that you can hold all the trademark violating domains you want you just have to give them up when a trademark holder asks for it.
Sometimes the trademark holder doesn’t ask but goes right for the jugular, by filing suit looking for $100K per domain plus attorney fees and costs.
Once you get the reputation as a typo-squatter forget the letter in the mail, the suit will probably come first.
I always see ads for Mr Temme’s workout “time machine” in the Continental flight magazine (my first impresson was that the copy was inspired by the There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute School of Marketing) . One has to wonder why someone who has supposedly sold 5300 of these 14K contraptions (approx $75,000,000 in sales) would bother to toy around with typos.
On the other hand, I have an autographed 8 X 10 of Rod Taylor on my wall and still have a crush on Yvette Mimieux 🙂
At $14,615 per machine for 5,300 machines – that is $77.5 million. Should have just about enough funds for a new website design by now.
David
I guess that is the silver lining for Mr. Temme in the whole deal.
When he get the judgment against him for $2.4 million he just needs to sell another 200 machines to cover it.
After all how many people mistyping in hotmail.com would it take to sell a machine for just $14K?
“Here is what a $14K machine looks like”
EEEK..looks like Santa’s sleigh to me, just needs a few reindeers on the front and a red paint job!
If he had already been sued before then he obviously did’nt learn anything from it, at $100K per domain that’s one big mistake to make for a trickle of extra visitors who are looking for something else !
why do you say he’s “not a domainer” ? Seems like he’s one to me, albeit not exactly white hat
Alf also owns Sauna.com.
I just watched a video about the ROM Time Machine and it appeared to be a glorified Rowing Machine/Stair Climber combo. And I love the price – exactly $14,615.00 (No cents?).
Regardless, THIS will always be the ultimate workout machine video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOGO57eM304&feature=related
I think he should be thrown in jail. The guy is a “scum bag”
After Derek’s comment I looked into some of the domains he owns. Yes, he has some really good domains like Sauna.com and We.com. However, he has an extremely bad habit of typo-squatting famous trademarks.
Good for Microsoft on this move. If I were a MS lawyer I would have seen the non-Microsoft domains in this portfolio and said “forget about this guy” paired with a previous lawsuit from Dell which was probably settled anyway.
Here are a few similar domains he owns that are similar in nature… Googl4e.com, Orkiut.com, Qadobe.com, Mqatch.com, Wezther.com, Goozgle.com, Googvle.com, Weat6her.com, Go9ogle.com, Orkiut.com.
I think it’s deplorable what this guy does and then says “I’m not one of those evil typo dudes.” He only makes the legitimate domain world look bad.
Typos aside, anyone that does not believe that machine does everything they claim it to is an ignorant moron.
Does it sound too good to be true? Does it seem to defy generally accepted exercise principles?
Yes, and yes.
Does it actually work?
Definitely Yes.
I’ve got one in my living room for that very reason. If you don’t and have never actually tried one out… don’t be a dumbass and say it isn’t real.
Sauna.com… well, considering if you own a sauna, at least some part of it (if not the whole thing) was built by one of Alf’s companies… We.com… that’s another story 😉
As for the typos… dunno nothing on that. Alf is an unusual guy, that much I’ll say…
I strongly believes that his ultimate intention was for Microsoft to take him to court. Just look at the publicity he is receiving. More than worth the 2.4 million in advertisement. He surely would not have registered them for the “once in a blue-moon typo visitors” who very less likely would be buying his machine.
Now he is all over the news….
It’s people like this that make the whole industry look bad! It’s so clear that he doesn’t get it if he thinks he isn’t a typo-squatter.
Always sad to see one person like this screw it up for the rest of us. Just think – most end-users that read about this guy will be afraid to do business with a Domainer. I’ve encountered so many end-users that think we all are like Mr. Temme – always hard to see the 1% ruin it for the other 99%!
Great article MHB and all I can say to Microsoft is – Go Get Him!!
LOL
I see that advertisement for the exercise machine in every Robb Report magazine I read.
I always stop on the ad and think “no way” 🙂
Aron
DN
I think he could have gotten a lot better publicity for $2.4 million plus attorneys fees and costs.
For that kind of cash he could have run an ad during the Superbowl.
Morgan writes: “It’s so clear that he doesn’t get it if he thinks he isn’t a typo-squatter.”
Obviously Morgan had never known an alcoholic. Many, many alcoholics vehemently insist they are not alcoholics because …. [fill in the blank]. For instance one alcoholic I know insisted that since she drank only beer and never drank whiskey she couldn’t be an alcoholic.
Let me count how many fcuks this guys gives about you thinking he is giving you a bad name – hmm I don’t see any, sorry.
This guy is a joke. 100% he will be in prison soon getting his “ass kicked” daily.
They are making and going to make examples out of people like this “clown”.
Thanks, Jim
@Cartoonz:
Anyone who would pay almost 15K for this machine and stick it in the middle of their living room definitely has me curious (though you may want to tone down calling anyone an “ignorant moron” or “dumbass” who logically questions its performance). I checked reviews and, yes, many of the owners are in love with the thing. On the other hand, many of the sites that appeared to be “neutral” or “informative” were owned by, you guessed it, Mr Temme. I don’t know the guy, but his marketing verbiage gives me the “Used Car Salesman” vibe in spades and experience has taught me to be skeptical. Nevertheless, I keep myself in shape (I can bench press 300 lbs 15X on an incline press) and look forward to hopping aboard one of these things to see what it can do.
David, none of my comments were directed at you 😉
… and it is at the side of my living room as that is the only spot I could put it in my current house… even if it does look like a modern art piece, or a Draconian torture device.
I know how many of those things he sells and it completely shocked me when I found that out. Alf really is a very interesting guy, I did a deal with him in ’06 and we talked about a lot of things… not typos though. I asked him about the 1990’s site design vs something more inline with the times and he told me when they tried a newer design, conversions went down. I believe that too because I know another guy that has been selling supplements on the net since the mid 90’s and he found the same thing… the antiquated design converts better – for them.
Come on up and try my ROM out sometime. I’m only 35 minutes away!
For marketing tips (aside from the typo matter) I would prefer to listen to a guy who has made $75 M from selling just this 1 product than the average domainer who is probably still waiting for just *the* category killer domain to fall in his lap before s/he starts a venture.
Typo squatting aside, this guy owns approx 35,000 domains so he’s not some small fry.
I still can’t believe how anyone can be so stupid to put their name & address in the WHOIS and not under an offshore company structure.
I think I could produce copy of this for couple of hundreds dollars in China. He shouldn’t mind, as he seems to be open to things like that.
Like someone said above, $75 million in sales and still a crappy late 90’s website, non directional site. Most people barely generate 1% then this guy and their sites look damn nice!
Guy seems brilliant in some areas, absolutely moronic in others. At least he understands the value of domains but uses them wrong. He has the dumbest traffic going to his site like we.com.
If I were this guy, I’d sell all my domains and start buying every exercise/fitness domain under the sun. His sales would go through the roof, although an endorsement on the TV Show The Doctors is also mighty fine.
The domainer sounds like a Business man to me. Look at Microsoft’s REP. They did not get where they are by being sweet.
I do not think that purchasing a misspelled name for a domian should have someone locked up.
If I were to use my first name for a website, would i be sued for trying to be someone else like a famous person? wtf
Where does marketing start and end?
“got a letter from Microsoft with a settlement offer of $500,000.”
He can still save his skin. Just sell his We.com if he needs the cash to pay the settlement.
Afif
The guy is crying that Microsoft settlement offer of $500K will put him out of business, yet he says he sold $77 Million in machines and he appearently has a collection of some top names.
Don’t worry if Microsoft gets their judgment and the guy doesn’t have the cash to pay they will be asking the judge to hand over We.com to them to satisfy their judgment
“It’s extortion! All they could have wanted to do was get the domain names.”
This guy is pretty impressive. If he thinks the settlement offer is “extortion”, wait until he gets a judgment to the tune of $100K per domain name, plus attorneys fees. There is utterly no reason why a court shouldn’t max out on this guy. He’s easily looking at north of $3M in damages here.
It’s one thing to say, “but he’s sold $77M of these things”, which I assume is gross sales well above net, but he didn’t make those sales with these domain names. Neither the publicity nor the sales – on these names – are anywhere near worth the liability he’s generated with them.
I always say that it’s easy to make a small fortune, if you start with a large one.
Kinda ironic that he also owns http://www.domainnamesquatting.com 🙂 …info about the dell case from his perspective
LMAO, at Andrew’s Comment. If this guy sold 77 million dollars worth of that crazy contraption of a workout machine, then he should redesign his crappy website. Maybe he could have sold $150million. I think the Bowflex would be better. He know’s what he was doing is wrong. I wonder if anyone who use’s free email bought a $14k machine from him?
didnt he just do what microsoft did years ago?
find a product that someone else invented, mass produce it and say it is their invention?
Wow Em-B — a plethora of pickings from this article!
@Cartoonz – Eric, if I saw one of these things sitting in your living room, I would burst out laughing, then try it out. lol. I can only imagine you, all serious-looking, sitting on this thing and pumping it up. LOL god I can’t get the image out of my head. Your dogs running around barking at you as y0u rowed, biked, climbed, pulled, pushed, and generally entangled yourself in this contraption… lol
I just have a pair of 45lb dumb bells in my office that I throw around, cost me $60 at Sears. I’ll put $1000 on beating you arm-wrestling both arms and I’m at least as old as Davey C is, which is probably easy 15 years older than you. Any takers on this? 😉
@Davey C — I think 15 reps of 300 lbs on an incline is pretty dang good. I did 350 max when in high school, I’d be surprised if I could lift 250 now (I was at a gym a few years ago and was pushing 200 in 3 sets of 8.) I think we should have an “arm wrestling for charity” at the next domain auction… and make sure we ban DAN KIMBALL! (Or we’re all just bacon slices)
Bottom line with this Alf guy — he has so much money, this is a “media” game to him. When you get a lot of money, you can play games with anyone — maybe you win, but when you lose, you still win because of the media coverage. (Name ONE asswipe Wall Street Goldman Sachs jerk who has been indicted in the bailout fiasco.)
Money wins all games… he who holds it, calls the shots. Just ask one “front row” genius domainer who has quietly crawled off to enjoy his spoils of war in the last few months after a few lawsuits.
I bet Cartoonz got his contraption on trade. I can’t see him forking over $14,615 for it. 🙂
@Domainer
Trade of what, his AbTronic, the electronic ab builder? (just joshing ya, Eric. I heard you have the hardest abs in the domain industry – and I’m not revealing my sources!)
The publicity worked. Thanks to Cartoonz testimonial, I ordered one of these contraptions.
I have interviewed Alf on Domain Masters and I own one of his workout machines. It works very well assuming one has good discipline to use it daily (which I don’t).
Anyway, I have the privilege to know Alf and he’s certainly not a bad guy or someone with bad intentions.
Quite the contrary, he’s a good person who has had some success with a self made business and an exceptionally kind and bright person, who himself would be the first to say that he has some radical ideas about the world.
The key takeaway from this whole unfortunate situation that Alf’s facing is something for everyone to benefit from:
1] To Domainers: IP/TM attitude is ‘all your base are belong to us’ – Typos of TMs have risk associated with them. No Suprise on this one, this isn’t new news.
2] To Corporations or ‘Potoential Complainants’: Try friendly first contact first and you’ll often get the domains you were after.
Jothan
I certain did not say the guys was a bad guy or evil, just reporting the news.
However I think the “key takeaway from this whole unfortunate situation” is that if you play the trademark typo game don’t assume you are going to get off with just giving the domains back.
Be prepared to pay $100K per plus attorney’s fee.
Having “A” domain that might be seen as a typo is one thing, having 25 versions of a typos of a trademark is quite the other.
@ Jothan
Sir, you spoketh publicly on a blog. I perchance, peered out my window, and lo, I observed a flock of pigs flying by. Gods be praised! 😉
@Mike You were very fair and objective. I regret I was not more clear, my defense of Alf was more directed at the commentor “Jim Halloran” for taking shots at him.
@Stephen Thanks for the props for me coming out from under my new TLD rock…
@ JOF — always wanting to see your mug, hear your voice, read your words. You’re the Mark Twain of Domaining.
you got my number, bitch! 😉
@Jothan,
I am taking shots at him because of these domains below:
Here are the 24 domains at issue
ho0tmail.com
hotma9l.com
hnotmail.com
hlotmail.com
hotmajil.com
hotmaipl.com
ho6mail.com
ho9tmail.com
hotma8l.com
hotgmail.com
hot5mail.com
hogtmail.com
hotma9il.com
hbotmail.com
hoftmail.com
ho6tmail.com
hotmailp.com
hotmawil.com
hotmzail.com
h9tmail.com
hotmauil.com
hotmakil.com
h9otmail.com
mzsn.com
This gives the domain industry a bad name. Maybe he is a nice guy, a brilliant marketing guy, maybe his machine is great. However, it is ethically wrong to register names like that and he knows it. He has the money to buy good targeted domains for his business, so he should do it.
Thanks, Jim
“Here’s the case of a non-domainer”
What? Typos of every major brand in the world and you call him a non domainer? If the future is any indication of the past Temme may be up for domainer of the year!
Alf Temme claims he registered some typos as part of his sales pitch to companies to use his service, because legal departments kept registering names on the sample lists he comprised of company typos: http://blog.seattlepi.com/microsoft/archives/212541.asp , so it was in order to protect himself!
Louise
Yes I saw the story yesterday got it scheduled for a post tonight
have a great holiday
I also know alf (met at an auction at a domainer meeting btw) and i suspect you quick critics are in for a few surprises. I also did clinical exercise research in the 90s that might be equally enlightening to the runners and weight lifters… but was not news to alf.
He’ll be just fine.
Great read! I have been a frequent visitor of this website for awhile and love it. Keep up the good work!