Questions:
1) Does there not need to be a Russian angle to the name?
2) "... if their submission contains the name we decide to use as our new business name." By "contains", is it possible you could for example add "The" to the submitted name and not pay up?
3) If a submitter is told that he has to share the prize because others also thought of the same name, how does he know that's true?
4) "If you have not received an email after 30 days from your submission ..." There are more than 30 days between now and March 1 (January30 + 30 days). Does that mean you will not necessarily wait until the deadline to pick a winner? Also: why would it be difficult to alert the winner?
5) Is there an easy way to check for USPTO availability?

hhp

Contests are contemptible.

Decor Essence - dot com is available. Toss the 250 into Typophile's beer fund, ok?

_________
Hiro

...

Hiro -- I responded to your email. Cheers.

Thanks for the full reply.

> We’ll do our best

That's not good enough. You'll have to be as specific as possible, in writing.

> What do you recommend?

A combination of two things:
1) Accept only submissions made in public (on third-party blogs/fora, with a time stamp).
2) Accept the first instance of a submitted name.

> But in case there were problems with contacting ...

Fair enough.
But we do need to know exactly who to expect as the domain name registrant.

hhp

...

Karavan
Caravana
Caravan Rustica
Dromedary
The Rye Trader
Merchant of Hennas
Gypsy Market
Rough & Silky
Golden Steppes

Hi hrant, Karavan.com and Caravana.com and Dromedary.com are taken.

The Rye Trader has a nice rustic ring to it.. but seems to fit more with a bakery. Rough & Silky sounds a bit too naughty :-P I like Golden Steppes. Not sure if I get the import part of it.. but it does have a sort of rustic grassland ring too it.

I would recommend that you respond to the email provided to protect your submissions. I can't prevent someone from seeing and registering these names since you've posted them publicly.

I can't protect myself without submitting in public. Registering is cheap (for a company) so I would recommend that you register all strong candidates as soon as you can.

hhp

"Pier 2"

Market Rustica
Home Rustica
Design Rustica
Arts Rustica

-
The pen is mightier than the sword, when the message is written in blood!

After aluminum's suggestion how about...

Pier 2 Pier

Pier to Pier

or

Peer to Pier

bullion traders

Peerless Traders

Bazaar Trades

Foreign Events

Foreign Exchange

Trade Wins Glow

Afar Piece

Afar Bazaar

Xchangeawait

Duty Free Port

Voyage Village

Voyage Holdings

Port-o-cull

Rustic Rarities
-

ChrisL

ORICANA

(A combination of Oriens and Arcana. ORIENS: The Latin for rising or east. ARCANA: meaning a hidden thing; a mystery or profound secret. From arca, the Latin for chest.)

(THE) COMPASS ROSE

(THE) CARAVEL

(THE) WOODEN GLOBE

THE TREASURY

OLD EXOTICA

THE ANTIQUARIAN

HARBOURIANA

THE IMPORT TENT

(THE) SILK ROAD / OCEAN ROAD / STONE ROAD / BRONZE ROAD / JADE ROAD / GILDED ROAD

A three word combination by mixing and matching one word from each of these three groups...

1: WHITE / RED / LONG / EAST / WEST / TRADE / OCEAN

2: STAR / SUN / SKY / OCEAN / ROAD / ROUTE / LINE / FLAG

3: LINE / ROAD / ROUTE / EAST / WEST / TRADE

eg: RED SUN ROAD / WHITE STAR ROAD / EAST ROAD WEST etc

A two-word combination from my dictionary.

hhp

Hrant, that's a brilliant idea. Do you mean any 2 words at random? Like, just for example, maybe...

CHURLISH BORE

Oh dear. It doesn't seem to work.

I'm going with a variation on Hrant's idea, but I call all the 3- and 4- word combinations not taken already.

- Lex

P.S. and the 5-word combos too.

OBSIDIAN

THE OBSIDIAN WAY

...

Ah. But not cord, yarn, since it also means "A long, often elaborate
narrative of real or fictitious adventures; an entertaining tale."

The Yarn Merchant

Running Yarn

A Rare Yarn

Yarn Trek

Suq or Saladin

Marco Solo

Marco Polo's Super Secret Cave

Marco Polo's Secret Stash

Marco Polo's Second Coming

Marco Polo Ditto

Marco Polska

Marcopoly

Seacrate

Salamander Crossing

The Pomander

Golden Pomegranate

Pompeii Again

Importistan

hhp

A Distant Yarn

Faraway Yarn

From Timbuktu to Here

From Timbuktu to You

I, Timbuktu

You of Timbuktu

hhp

I rebooted my computer just for this:

Yarn of Yore (abbreviated YOFY or Yofy; pronounced "y of y" or "yofy")
Note: yofy.com is taken, but by a squatter, and it expires in about two months.

hhp

Twine Traders
String Things
Tied and Tide
Tied & True
Freight Crate
Bound & Tagged
Duty Bound
Sheep-Shank
Bundle Trade
Gear 2 Go

ChrisL

>is a (sic) legally eligible to participate in contests based in the United States

How does one become legally eligible?

Arcadian Emporium

Kern Boutique

Tim

btw on the subject of bondage
"It is rustic all through. It is moorish, and wild, and knotty as a root of heath."
Charlotte Brontë 1816-55: on the setting of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, in her own preface to the 1850 edition

MoreWickerAndOtherCheesyImportedCrapForYourMcMansion.com

Slicker Wicker

:-)

ChrisL

>“A long, often elaborate narrative of real or fictitious adventures; an entertaining tale.” :)

Munchausen Mansion, travel by proxy (strapline is free)

Tim

LOL!