Article written by Bob Green, Business Advisor, Western Sydney Business Centre.
It is amazing how crises bring out both the best and the worst of people and this COVID19 event has been no exception.
One of things I have encountered a number of times is clients ringing me for advice on what to do about competitors who have use very doubtful processes to steal their clients. In some instances, they have used my client’s logo and established a business name very similar to theirs. They have then purchased the domain names not already held by my client and used them to divert enquiries to their own business.
On the face of it, although it is highly immoral, it is not illegal. Why? The reasons why were that they hadn’t trademarked (different from copyright, that happens on logo design completion) their logo (you can do it yourself, look on business.gov.au and search for “trademarks”-there is a step-by-step process there), they had chosen an almost generic business/company name and they hadn’t obtained all the other “dots” of their domain name. Although “yourbusinessname”.com.au is the domain name that identifies your company and declares it as Australian, there are also .com, .biz, .net, and city specific “.” as well. Rent as many variations of your domain name extensions that are available, use one of them as your domain name and web address and “park” the others, i.e. don’t use them. This immediately makes it hard for those who want to divert net traffic and emails to themselves and away from you.
Confusing? Well, you have advisors available through the Business Connect program. Go to the Business Connect website, look at the Western Sydney Business Centre advisor bios and book a call back from one of them or call Western Sydney Business Centre direct on 02 4721 5011. I can also help NDIS providers, Bob Green.