Cease & desist letter from Visa

There is this blog in Malaysia that runs under the domain Visa.com.my. It is a nice blog, clearly not malicous with the intend to harm the "real thing." Additionally, it appears as if the subsidiary of Visa in Malaysia "forgot" to renew their domain, and this was the time, when the originator of the blog picked it up.

Now the giant has awaken - the blog writer received a letter from Visa's lawyer. Here is what the blog writer writes about the letter:

The letter was sent "by a legal firm which represents Visa International Service Association of 900 Metro Center Boulevard, Foster City, California 94404, United States of America this morning. In the email, the representative has ordered me to give up the domain www.visa.com.my within 7 days. In the email, the representative said the use of visa in the domain name has infringed Visa International's trademark. Besides, there was once a Visa credit card related advertisement found in the Google Ads section of my website, which was indeed chosen automatically by Google Ads, also infringes Visa International's trademark."

I have not too much experience in the domain area, but it is clear that companies go after "their domains" and what they think is an infringement on their name.

It is good not to give up too early and check for the basis of Visa's claim.

There is help available online today - check Chilling Effects and a related article - and it is positive to note that there are cases where people didn't barge and, after making the claims public, could keep their domain names. As long as they didn't have a maliceous intend, you always have a chance. But it might be time- and cost intensive.

Any thoughts, comments or further assistance is greatly appreciated either here or at the blogger's webpage.

(By Asia Business Consulting)