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desirable domain wanted by the company I work for...

by redz11
4 replies
Hello Warriors,

Basically I am looking for some advice, recently I was taken into a meeting and updated on what my company wanted to launch over christmas (which they never did) I thought I would check out which domains they had registered for this purpose, to which they didnt register any .co.uk domains.

I then went onto the ethos of what might they want to expand into, and bought a few more domains, well I got the call off my team leader enquiring about these domains and that the company are interested.. I am very weary at this point due to the fact they might claim 'insider trading knowledge' but I came up to the domains in my own time and research.

How would you suggest I proceed, I will want some sort of compensation.. I just dont know how much that price should be, as I cant be arsed with them pushing me out of my job.. also any legal issues I may face if they become difficult with me?

thanks warriors!
#company #desirable #domain #wanted #work
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    Did you register the domains with the thought that you would be turning them over to the company as part of your job with them? Or was it your intent to register the domains and then make money off them by offering them for a price to the company?

    In my mind, at least, you intent suggests what you ought to do. If you intended to give the company the names because you are a good and loyal employee, then you could ask them to reimburse you for your time spent in finding the names plus the actual expenses you incurred in registering the domains.

    On the other hand, if your intent was to become a domain squatter, registering and sitting on the domains in hopes of extracting a good sum of money from your company, then I think you will place yourself in a difficult situation of being perceived as a "blackmailer" or sorts. You could be seen as trying to profit from inside knowledge or not being loyal because your own self interests are superseding the companies' interests.

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  • Profile picture of the author WarrenPeterson
    The company can likely claim them from you regardless, as you have already stated here that you acquired those names based on conversations about what the company was going to do. Unless you can 'prove' that you had the idea for the domain names before your company started discussing this project, you're not standing on firm ground to now sell those names to your company.

    I'd ask them to repay your registration costs and leave it at that. You can also use this experience to prove your value and worth to the organization next time there is an employee review process. It shows you are forward thinking and an asset to the company. If the company places any value on that at all (and if they don't you should be seeking employment elsewhere anyway), the ability to show your mindset will be far more economically valuable to you than any small short term you might be able to get from them.

    Think about this from the viewpoint of the company. On one hand they have a person who registered domain names based on meetings and internal conversations and now wants to get compensation for that. On the other hand is a person who is a thinker, using initiative and coming up with ideas to help the company. If you owned the company, which person you keep, and which would you let go?
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  • Profile picture of the author Wags
    If you were not asked to register any domains why would you even bother, unless you were trying to make some extra money from your company, spending all that time on researching domains that only your company would be interested in buying and useless to yourself, if i was a director or boss of the company i would think this way, i suppose you could always give them away for free and be labeled a jobsworth by all the staff lol
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    • Profile picture of the author professorrosado
      Why should they buy the domain from you? Is it a brand? Were you expected to provide them with a domain?

      I think if the name is not a brand, how is it a guaranteed usage / transfer to the company? I particularly don't have issues creating one word brand names for myself and my clients. If you can let them proceed and find their own name than do that.

      If you were responsible to find suitable domain for the company, I don't see how or why you should now charge them for their own work product - you are their employee or contractor. For these things you really must consult an employee manual or your employment / engagement contract as it relates to intellectual and work product rights.

      With the little information tendered, I would think that you are not in your right to demand anything more than the registration and transfer fees for any domain, they decide they want for their project.
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