ForumsInternet/eCommerce

There is not really a "cut-and-dried" answer to that. You may own the domain name, yet if the "main company" produces a product or provides a service that is associated with that name, or if that name is recognized as being the source of their products or services (not just in the virtual world, but on any hard copy documentation the company has), you and your business may be prohibited from using it in trade. If that's the case, your best course of action might be to figure up what you spent to establish the domain name and Internet visibility, and then offer to sell the domain to the company at your cost.

Selling a domain in that way is not an unusual transaction -- some people are actually in the business of establishing domain names for all kinds of things (cars, books, movies, etc.) before the producer/publisher has the chance, and then they offer to sell them when the producer/publisher discovers the name is already registered. Since your intent was to build a business, not squeeze the company for a few thousand bucks, they should be receptive to a reasonable offer to sell.

Yes, you can do what ever you want with it until you sell it. You bought it, and unless you continue to pay for it then they cannot do anything about it.

Yes, more info might helpful (because I think some of us are interpreting this question differently).

In the United States, "the right to use a name (whether it be a company name, trade name, domain name, trademark, or service mark) derives from actual use of that name." That phrase is firmly grounded in both federal and state statutes. As a general rule, in the event of a conflict, the entity that can show the first documented uses of the name in commercial trade wins the dispute.

Do you remember the high profile MTV vs. Adam Curry case? When MTV executives expressed no interest whatsoever in the Internet or in registering mtv.com as a domain name in the early 90's, video jock Curry did it himself. When the website caught the interest of viewers, MTV filed a federal suit against Curry for trade name infringement. Curry absoutely owned and properly registered that domain name (in fact, he was one of the first "celebrities" to have a website) -- but you can visit mtv.com and see how much good THAT did him. The options were that he could keep the domain name (but be prohibited by law from using it for anything), or sell it to MTV. He sold.

Yes, he did . . . and hopefully whundt1 can, too, if the situation is at all similar.