Tag Archives: intellectual property

Fri 16th October 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Twitter is meddlesome in a second turn of new gtld applications - TrademarksandBrandsOnline.com published an article that Twitter plans to participate in the second round of new gtld expansion. Stephen Coates is trademark counsel for the social media giant, he told the website that he doesn’t know exactly which extensions they would apply for, but that he would imagine .Twitter being high on the list. Interestingly Coates said the jury was still out on whether or not there are marketing benefits by using a new gtld, but he did think there were other benefits ... read more ...
Sat 12th September 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Will .Film Prevent Squatting from Unofficial Third Parties ? - Will .film help in the battle against cybersquatting ? ScreenDaily.com published an article on the  Melbourne-based Motion Picture Domain Registry (MPDR) and their launch of .film, an extension dedicated exclusively to film content. From the article: The producers of Toronto selections February and Septembers Of Shiraz have already registered their official site with the suffix as the product is marketed to the industry as a potential anti-piracy device. Both hail from Nu Image / Millennium Films ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Apple Sued For Trademark Infringement Over "Ear Pods" - Plaintiff Direct Sound was started in November 2000 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Direct Sound is engaged in this business of manufacturing and selling audio headphones and related parts and accessories. Direct Sound owns the trademarks of “E.A.R.PODS” and “e.a.r.Pods.” Direct Sound uses the marks “E.A.R.PODS” and “e.a.r.Pods” on and in connection with its products. On September 8, 2012, Direct Sound filed Application Serial No. 85/724,049 (“‘049 Application”) seeking to federally ... read more ...
Fri 11th September 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Go Daddy Wins Court Case Most Thought They would lose - We have been tracking the battle between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a few years now. It was looking like Go Daddy was going to lose a case that could set a precedent for other ip holders. The Hollywood Reporter published an article tonight in which they deemed it a “surprising court loss” for the Academy. This battle has been going on for five years. From the article: In a cybersquatting case that lasted more than five years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and ... read more ...
Tue 11th August 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
BMW is Reviewing The Possibility of TM Infringement as associated Alphabet - BMW is apparently not too thrilled about Google deciding to go with the name Alphabet, and they have some concerns according to several news outlets. FleetNews.co.uk wrote: Vehicle leasing company Alphabet is investigating whether Google has infringed its trademark after the tech giant gave its new parent company the same name. Following a restructure, Google has created a new parent company called Alphabet Inc. The leasing and fleet management company, owned by BMW, told Fleet News: “The possibility ... read more ...
Mon 8th June 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Can Your Name Determine Your Entire Future ? - We talk about naming all the time in domaining, an article on Mic.com talked about the topic of names as it pertains to your first name, and how it can affect your entire life. From whether or not a weird names affects your chances at success to whether it may lead to being racially profiled. Included in one study was the effect your name had on getting into Oxford University. If your name is Eleanor you got a good chance, if your name is Shane, you got 0 chance according to the study. From the ... read more ...
Wed 3rd June 2015
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Apple Loses Trademark Case in a Philippines - PhoneArena.com reported that Apple lost a trademark case in the Philippines. Apple was not applying for a tm but rather objecting to a tm filing from Solid Broadband who was looking to get a tm for my|phone name. PhoneArena.com wrote: When Solid Broadband attempted to trademark the my|phone name in the Philippines, Apple objected saying that it was “confusingly similar” to the iPhone and was “likely to deceive or cause confusion.” And while the Philippines’ Intellectual Property Office ... read more ...
Fri 29th May 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Facebook is Opposed to Designbook removing trademark - Facebook opposes trademark of start up Designbook WPTZ is reporting that Facebook wants to block the trademark of Vermont based Designbook, Facebook seems to think they are the only one’s entitled to use the word book. From the article: Designbook is a nearly year-old online community that connects startup businesses with investors and collaborators. In its quest to protect the name, to thwart any potential imitators or “Designbook 2’s” as Pollak says, the company hit a major roadblock. Facebook ... read more ...
Tue 5th May 2015
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verisign wants obvious for "Searchable Web Whois" - Company files patent application for improved whois searching across multiple registries. Verisign has filed a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a “searchable web whois”. The application was filed in 2012 and just published today. The patent application suggests that current whois search, especially across multiple registries, is hard. It claims that current services only search a single registry per search request, it’s difficult to index whois records in real time, it’s ... read more ...
Thu 30th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Will Microsoft Buy Edge.com and Will They File A UDRP on MicrosoftEdge.com ? - Microsoft has a new browser that they are calling Microsoft Edge, Mike was talking with me and wondered aloud if they would go after Edge.com ? Three years ago there was an existing business on Chrome.com and Google decided to make them an offer and purchased the domain. Mike wrote about that here. Now Edge.com is also an existing business and not sitting there parked or owned by a domain investor. The company Edge Systems LLC was founded in 1985. From the homepage: Founded in 1985, Edge Systems ... read more ...
Mon 27th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Even during Grassroots Level Trademark Disputes Can Get Ugly - Mama, a charismatic woman with colorful Mexican dresses and braided hair, became an anchor in the neighborhood, and her cafe was ground zero for activists, academics, politicians and police who were pushing to improve the area. Today, Romero lives just blocks away, but won’t go near the little restaurant with the blue awning. She hardly looks in that direction, just across the street from the park. She’s also careful to never use the Mama’s Hot Tamales name — on her Facebook, email or business ... read more ...
Fri 24th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Web.com Awarded Netsol.Domains in UDRP - A one member panel ruled in favor of Web.com with regards to the domain name Netsol.domains. The registrant was based out of Spain and it seems tried to sell the domain for $5,000. The registrant did say that the name along with other infringing domains were registered  as part of an automated list generated from software created by Respondent that was designed to generate a list of “best search terms in the AdWords Keywords search engine”.  Respondent indicated that he did not personally review ... read more ...
Thu 23rd April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Controversial Bill To Fight Piracy Passes in Florida Senate - The Florida state Senate has passed a bill that would require websites who distribute commercial movies and music to give out the identity of their owners. Bradenton.com posted the news from the Associated Press: TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Websites that distribute commercial movies and music online would be required to identify their owners under legislation passed by the Florida Senate. The Senate passed the bill Wednesday despite opposition from some of the nation’s biggest Internet companies. The ... read more ...
Wed 22nd April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Pirate Bay Faces Court Date On Domain Names - Torrent Freak published an article on the upcoming Swedish court case over whether or not The Pirate Bay will get to keep what are arguably their most important domain names. ThePirateBay.se and PirateBay.se. What is interesting about this case is that the .se registry is also being sued by prosecutors. They want the domains to be forfeited and not to be allowed to be registered again. From the article: Next week in a separate action, a Swedish court will be required to decide whether The Pirate ... read more ...
Mon 20th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
FairWinds Partners: " Top-Level Domains Owned by Brands Gaining Momentum" - Jennifer Schoelwer wrote an article on the FairWinds Partners blog that delves into gaining momentum for branded top level domains. The article is focused on .brands, not generic strings open to everyone. The article takes a look at French bank BNP Paribas and the steps they have taken to explain their upcoming .bnpparibas to their customers. Jennifer ends the article, “It is clear is that brands will – and have – set a new standard for online trust and consumer experience.” From the article: While ... read more ...
Wed 15th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
France Wants Google to Show Them What's In Their Secret Sauce - The tension between Google and the E.U. continues to persist, now there is talk of a new law in France that would force Google to reveal its secret sauce, in other words show us how your algorithm works. If you think of Google as being dominant in the U.S. it is far greater when it comes to search in Europe. While making up 68% of search volume is the U.S. according to one report, it handles 90 percent in Europe. From Foss Bytes: Google’s secret search algorithm, the heart of Google, may not be ... read more ...
Fri 10th April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Australian Judge releases personal info on over 4700 who allegedly pirated movie - The AP wrote that an Australian judge has apparently agreed to release the names of over 4700 Aussies who downloaded the movie Dallas Buyers Club. SYDNEY (AP) — Internet providers have lost an Australian court battle to keep secret the names of Internet users suspected of illegally downloading Hollywood movie “Dallas Buyers Club” over file-sharing networks. The Federal Court ruling on Tuesday is a landmark win for copyright holders in a country which has a reputation for being among of world’s ... read more ...
Thu 2nd April 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Donuts’ selling descent tops list of most-read stories for Mar on WTR - Trevor Little wrote on World Trademark Review that Donuts marketing offensive was the most read story for March. From the article: The campaign is aimed at spreading the new gTLD gospel to small businesses in the US. While unlikely to be the turning point in terms of wider public awareness of new gTLDs, the campaign will do no harm in spreading the gTLD message and will be welcomed by registrars. We argued that it is also a development worth noting by brand owners. Elsewhere in the gTLD world, there ... read more ...
Thu 26th March 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Move Over Cybersquatting Here Comes Soundsquatting - Tim Lince published an article on WorldTrademarkReview.com that has found a new kind of domain infringement. It is being called soundsquatting and the victims are the visually impaired. From the article: Recent research has revealed the extent of a newly discovered type of domain name abuse. Dubbed ‘soundsquatting’, it is based on homophone confusion of popular domains and the authors of the study have urged trademark counsel to take note due to the high proportion of malicious domains uncovered. Currently, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Well Cosmo Kramer This is Why Radio Shack asked for your Phone Number - For years on Christmas Eve I would buy a last minute gift at Radio Shack, it was across the street from the mall and it was open later than other stores. I always couldn’t stand them asking for my phone number or email address when I was just trying to get out of there. For fans of Seinfeld, Cosmo Kramer wondered about Radio Shack from this classic clip:   Well it seems now Radio Shack wants to sell that data and as Mike would say, No Bueno. From PC World: For years, RadioShack made a habit of ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Another Case of Cybersquatting Paying off - This transaction takes us all around the globe and shows just how magical the Internet can be. So a Chinese registrant gets a domain that represents a major U.S. brand, in the South African extension. NBAstore.co.za sold yesterday on Sedo for $5,500. The buyer shown in whois is Victor Dutka and Mr.Dutka according to LinkeIn is Sr Director, Enterprise Network Services National Basketball Association. Responsible for voice and data networking for the league. So instead of going the UDRP route, the ... read more ...
Wed 25th March 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Is This Really a Golden Age of Domain Trolling ? - Caitlin Dewey of The Washington Post wrote an article that centered around the recent Taylor Swift and Ted Cruz domain registrations. Caitlin decided to use the words domain trolling instead of the often used cyber squatting. The lone commenter in the article told Caitlin that it is called cybersquatting. From the article: What is domain trolling, exactly? And how is it even legal? Given the strong anti-impersonation protections that most social networks supply, the ability to register an entire ... read more ...
Mon 23rd March 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Go Daddy Wins Important Section 230 Case - Eric Goldman published an article on what he deemed an important legal victory for Go Daddy. Go Daddy won a Section 230 case which involved some Teamsters Union members. Section 230 is a part of the Communications Deceny Act and it provides immunity for providers like Go Daddy hosting. From the article: GoDaddy won a Section 230 case in the Second Circuit. It’s a short and efficient ruling, but it’s a published opinion and the court says it’s the first Second Circuit opinion on Section 230 ... read more ...
Sat 21st March 2015
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
China Denies Any Involvement in Cyber Attack on Register.com - An article on TheHill.com says that China has denied they had any involvement in a cyberattack on Register.com. The crazy thing is that the hackers were in Register.com’s system for over a year. From the article: China has denied involvement in a cyberattack on Register.com, which manages more than 2 million domain names worldwide, Reuters reported. The Financial Times reported earlier this week that the FBI was investigating possible Chinese military involvement in the digital hit, which could ... read more ...
Fri 20th March 2015
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North Korean Registrant Holding DailySquib.mobi hostage - According to the Daily Squib a North Korean hacker has registered one of their names, and its a .mobi of all things. The satirical website is having a little fun with someone in North Korea registering their name in .mobi. LONDON – England – You’ve got to hand it to those pesky North Koreans, they have now acquired one of our domain names and we have no chance of ever getting it back. Is this some kind of humour malfunction the North Koreans have? According to Whois records www.dailysquib.mobi ... read more ...