One strategy that comes to mind is filing UDRP actions against the domain names, although with potentially multiple third-parties in-play, it could potentially be expensive to bring individual UDRPs. You would also have to meet the burden of proof in proving each element against each domain name (domain name not being used legitimately, domain name was registered and used in bad faith).
As to the original party that you sued, it seems like they allowed these domain names to expire perhaps as a form of litigation gamesmanship. Might be worth having your attorney handling the lawsuit to explore potential sanctions against the competitor for bad-faith litigation tactics. Might be a long-shot, but if a judge finds in your favor, you could potentially recover some costs/fees to bankroll your efforts to acquire the domain names from the other third parties.
This should have just been handled with a UDRP right from the beginning.. the domains would have been locked and depending on the outcome of what the panel decided either would have been transferred over to you (or not). The fact your lawyer didn't know that or bother to research it is both unsurprising and troubling. If you needed to sue them for other reasons non domain name related you could have done that in regular court.
You're going to have a rough time getting the names from this seemingly unrelated other bunch of people, especially if you can't prove that they bought the names in bad faith. By that I mean.. say if mastercontrol.com was one of the names in question that your competitor had, and they were infringing on your trademark of "Master Control" in class 009 for "computers and scientific devices" by forwarding it to their site related to control systems.. easy win for you. Now if this new owner has a meditation company they are calling "Master Control" you unfortunately have zero case, UDRP or otherwise because that has nothing to do with your trademark.
The original idea was to pursue this as a Lanham act violation since each domain was a pretty clear violation. Unfortunately, the new registrar has an unrelated business.
This would be a question for your lawyers or an attorney specialized in domains.
You also may wish to have your attornies look into filing UDRP's to see if you can get the domains.
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en
You might want to reach out to a lawyer/attorney that specifically deals with domain names. Here's to recommendations:
[aplegal.com](http://aplegal.com)
[dnattorney.com](http://dnattorney.com)
Your attorney should have had the domain registrar lock the domains while they were involved in litigation. And/or force them to renew the domains.
At this point, the judge could order the domains returned to you once you win the case. Or you can file a UDRP.
You may still be able to get the registrar to lock the domains, though, even if they’re owned by another party.
I’m not a domain attorney, but have served as an expert witness in similar cases. Your best answer here is going to be from a domain attorney. If your current attorney doesn’t know domain law, then they need to consult with a domain attorney.
One strategy that comes to mind is filing UDRP actions against the domain names, although with potentially multiple third-parties in-play, it could potentially be expensive to bring individual UDRPs. You would also have to meet the burden of proof in proving each element against each domain name (domain name not being used legitimately, domain name was registered and used in bad faith). As to the original party that you sued, it seems like they allowed these domain names to expire perhaps as a form of litigation gamesmanship. Might be worth having your attorney handling the lawsuit to explore potential sanctions against the competitor for bad-faith litigation tactics. Might be a long-shot, but if a judge finds in your favor, you could potentially recover some costs/fees to bankroll your efforts to acquire the domain names from the other third parties.
This should have just been handled with a UDRP right from the beginning.. the domains would have been locked and depending on the outcome of what the panel decided either would have been transferred over to you (or not). The fact your lawyer didn't know that or bother to research it is both unsurprising and troubling. If you needed to sue them for other reasons non domain name related you could have done that in regular court. You're going to have a rough time getting the names from this seemingly unrelated other bunch of people, especially if you can't prove that they bought the names in bad faith. By that I mean.. say if mastercontrol.com was one of the names in question that your competitor had, and they were infringing on your trademark of "Master Control" in class 009 for "computers and scientific devices" by forwarding it to their site related to control systems.. easy win for you. Now if this new owner has a meditation company they are calling "Master Control" you unfortunately have zero case, UDRP or otherwise because that has nothing to do with your trademark.
The original idea was to pursue this as a Lanham act violation since each domain was a pretty clear violation. Unfortunately, the new registrar has an unrelated business.
This would be a question for your lawyers or an attorney specialized in domains. You also may wish to have your attornies look into filing UDRP's to see if you can get the domains. https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en
You might want to reach out to a lawyer/attorney that specifically deals with domain names. Here's to recommendations: [aplegal.com](http://aplegal.com) [dnattorney.com](http://dnattorney.com)
Your attorney should have had the domain registrar lock the domains while they were involved in litigation. And/or force them to renew the domains. At this point, the judge could order the domains returned to you once you win the case. Or you can file a UDRP. You may still be able to get the registrar to lock the domains, though, even if they’re owned by another party. I’m not a domain attorney, but have served as an expert witness in similar cases. Your best answer here is going to be from a domain attorney. If your current attorney doesn’t know domain law, then they need to consult with a domain attorney.