Man Who Tried To Sell ‘Lambo.com’ To Lamborghini For A World-Record Price Gets Nothing As a substitute

The previous owner of “lambo.com” will likely go into the pantheon of parents who badly fumbled the bag. After purchasing the domain Lambo.com in 2018 for $10,000 Richard Blair decided it was time to money out on his investment and seemingly was in an ideal spot to make a pleasant margin. He then decided to play a game of chicken with one of the crucial litigious types on the planet — an Italian automotive company.

Now, domains can vary widely in price. From a pair bucks all the way in which as much as eight figures. After an initial investment of $10,000, what would you think that a healthy return would appear like? $100,000? $250,000? One million dollars would not be unworldly, even when pricey. Well, Blair seemingly decided that these profit margins were for losers eventually Spinto Veloce’ing the value as much as a large $75 million, based on TechRadar. For context, “Chat.com” sold in 2023 for $15.5 million, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Blair could hit eight figures. Blair apparently checked out the domain market, saw some record sales, and figured he could “negotiate.” As he would soon learn, nevertheless, there’s a superb line between aggressive negotiating and extortion.

That is where the story goes from standard domain-squatting to comedy gold. Once you buy a site that clearly references a trademark or mental property (IP), you often need a legitimate reason to own it. Now let’s be real, “Lambo” essentially means one thing to your complete world — Lamborghini, the carmaker that creates wedge-shaped noise machines for individuals who hate their neighbors. Blair’s legal strategy was attempting to persuade the courts that he was actually “Lambo.” In keeping with arbitration docs, he claimed the moniker was a play on “Lamb,” more bizarrely, distilled from the phrase “Lamb of outlier generic aptitude and intelligence.” Alright then.

The issue with Blair’s defense was timing. Records showed Blair didn’t start calling himself “Lambo,” specifically online, until after he bought the domain name. At the top of the day, nobody was buying what he was attempting to sell. After an arbitration firm decided Blair had no right to the name, the case then went to court. A district court ultimately ruled that Blair’s actions defied all common and legal sense and called his practice of incremental price increases as indirect extortion. The ultimate verdict was Blair had no rights to the name, didn’t act in good faith, and was to give up the domain to Lamborghini … ouch.

So if you happen to’re keeping rating, he almost definitely lost a small fortune in legal fees fighting a large corporation in federal court. He lost the initial $10,000 investment. And he lost the domain. Possibly Mr. Blair was higher off putting that money into one in every of these enthusiast cars as a substitute. This case sets a direct precedent for domain-squatters who think they will hide behind thin veils of known brands. Sure, “lambo” could consult with a sheep, but let’s be real, if you price it at $75 million, you are not selling to sheep farmers. So if you happen to wish to buy “rarri.com” for $300,000 and hoping to show a profit selling it to Ferrari — re-evaluate.