Tag Archives: legal

Tue 18th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ad.com Sale Falls Through, Lawsuit Filed - Seller files suit after $1.4M deal falls through. Ad.com owner Marcos Guillen has filed a lawsuit against Directi and Skenzo for backing out of its auction purchase of Ad.com. The sale caught mainstream attention when Skenzo bought the domain at Moniker’s TRAFFIC auction in Silicon Valley this past April for $1.4M. But immediately after the sale, issues started popping up. The exact circumstances leading to the failed purchase are not clear, although they are apparently ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Virgin Media Joins Typosquatting Club - Virgin ISP starts typosquatting. European internet service provider Virgin Media is the latest ISP to start an error redirect service typosquatting operation. On an F.A.Q. on its web site, the company writes: We are introducing this new service that we hope our customers will find useful. It’s designed to help you find the websites you’re looking for more easily. We think it offers a better customer experience and more convenience, but if you disagree, you can ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
AOL Sues Advertise.com for Trademark Infringement - AOL stretches its trademarks beyond belief. Apparently AOL thinks it owns every domain name that is some variation of “Advertising”. The company just filed a lawsuit against Advertise.com. Advertise.com was formerly known as ABCsearch.com until it bought the domain name Advertise.com for an undisclosed price earlier his year. The lawsuit claims: …Advertise.com recently commenced use of the virtually identical and confusingly similar designation Advertise.com ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Oversee.net Sues Skenzo, Oversee and Guillen Explain Their Sides - I don’t see this as a trademark issue. AOL’s claim of a trademark in a domain name I have owned since 1997, and I’ve been using it before for pay links and advertising, years before AOL claims of first use: example 1 example 2 AOL filed their trademark application after I agreed to list the domain name with Moniker for auction in September 2008. The ad.com auction was announced by Moniker on September 5, 2008… Then, AOL rushed to file their trademark application on September 24, 2008, ... read more ...
Mon 17th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How to Make .Eco a Success - Here’s some free consulting for .eco top level domain supporters. You may have recently read about a tiff between two groups competing to launch .eco, a domain name for companies to showcase their environmental friendliness. In one corner you’ve got Dot Eco, LLC, with support from Al Gore. In the other corner is Big Room. There’s also another company that has applied for a trademark to .eco, which could make things messier. Both sides have been trading jabs. ... read more ...
Fri 14th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How Companies Try to Stifle Online Criticism - Trademarks, copyrights, and other frivolous claims. We frequently see companies use UDRP to try to shut down domains critical of their businesses. But through running Domain Name Wire, I can tell you that it doesn’t stop there. They often try to use other means and threats to remove content that puts the company in a negative light. I’ve received complaints from people (typically complainants) when I write about how they lost a UDRP. They say my article is ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Mirabella Beauty Products Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Panel not impressed with beauty company’s claims. California beauty products company Mirabella Beauty Products, LLC has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking by a three person arbitration panel. The company filed a complaint with National Arbitration Forum for the domain name Mirabella.com, but had some major holes in its argument. In its decision, the panel wrote: Here, the Respondent urges a declaration of reverse domain name hijacking on the ground ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Car Dealer Loses EverybodyRides.com (Again) - Virginia car deal finds out that nobody is riding. Virginia car dealer Free Bridge Auto Sales Inc. has lost its challenge for the domain name EverybodyRides.com…for a second time. In March of this year the company filed a complaint with National Arbitration Forum to get the domain name from its owner. The car dealer convinced the panel that the domain was used in bad faith, but not that it was registered in bad faith. In fact, the complainant admitted to the panel ... read more ...
Thu 13th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Celebs In Trademark Battle Over The Word “Nude” - Here’s an interesting offline trademark battle between celebs over the word “nude”. Seems that Designer Stella McCartney, daughter of Paul McCartney just announced that she will be releasing a new perfume StellaNude. Wife of Bono, leading singer of U2, Ali Hewson, and her business partner Bryan Meehan, have a company called Nude Skincare, which specializes in natural probiotic products. Hewson suggested naming the line Nude, as it was the reverse of “Edun”, Bono and Hewson’s green clothing ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dispute Resolution: Sandra Bullock, DKB.com, and More - A run down of recent UDRP decisions and case filings. SandraBullock.com: Sandra Bullock has won her case for the domain name SandraBullock.com. DKB.com: Hmm. Deutsche Kreditbank AG has filed a case with World Intellectual Property organization to get the domain name DKB.com. The domain was registered back in 1996 and DKB Data Services, Inc has owned the domain since at least 2001 (the earliest available whois record). Unless something crops up in the case that’s ... read more ...
Wed 12th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
eSnipe Fails to Snipe Domain Name - SNIPEIT! can’t snipe domain arbitration. Auction sniper software company eSnipe, Inc. of Bellevue, Washington, has failed to snipe the domain name SnipeIt.com through domain arbitration. Either the company doesn’t have strong trademarks dating back to earlier this decade or its lawyer failed to convey them to the arbitration panel. In making no finding of bad faith by registrant Modern Empire Internet, Ltd, the panel wrote: The Complainant points to its claimed ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN: Domain Tasting Down 99.7% - ICANN policy change leads to drastic drop in domain tasting. ICANN released a report (pdf) today that shows a 99.7% drop in domain tasting since adding new penalties to the practice. “Domain tasting” refers to registering a domain name and then returning it for a full refund during the first five days of registration. The data show that deletes during the grace period (which were primarily tasting prior to the changes) is down 99.7% from June 2008 to April 2009, ... read more ...
Tue 11th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Moniker to Request Sanctions Against Transamerica in Lawsuit - Moniker and Oversee to ask for sanctions against Transamerica over cybersquatting lawsuit. Domain name registrar Moniker and parent company Oversee.net intend to request sanctions against Transamerica for a lawsuit the insurance company filed against them, according to a legal filing. The filing requested an extension to the time the defendants have to respond to the lawsuit, and notes: …the Defendants will soon be serving a motion for sanctions pursuant to Fed. ... read more ...
Mon 10th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
PDDomains.com Latest Scam Appraisal Site - Scam gets a new home. The domain name appraisal scam seems to be mutating too quickly to follow, which means it may be time to create a web site dedicated specifically to it. The latest domain name to host the scam is PDdomains.com. Here’s an example e-mail being sent out. If you receive this email, hit the “report spam” button in your email client. To be clear, Sedo and AccurateDomains are included in the e-mail as decoys for legitimacy. They are not part ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Open Season on OpenDental.com - Sloppy decision should worry domain name owners. The domain name OpenDental.com has been awarded to a software company in a domain arbitration case. The details of the case are startling, and all domain name owners should pay attention. The key fact is that the registrant of OpenDental.com, a licensed dentist in South Korea, registered the domain name in 1999. The complainant, which operates Open Dental Software, didn’t start using the trademark in commerce until ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Austin Venture Capitalist Loses Domain Registrar - Austin domain registrar among three losing accreditation. Barring a last minute reprieve, Austin venture capitalist Thomas Ball’s domain name registrar is one of three ICANN is giving the boot. ICANN sent letters to three accredited registrars informing them that their agreements would not be renewed upon expiration for various infractions. Lately, ICANN has used this tact to cut domain registrars that are nearing the end of their contracts as opposed to de-accrediting ... read more ...
Fri 7th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Registrar Fights ICANN Over De-Accreditation - Lead Networks files for arbitration. Domain name registrar Lead Networks Domains Pvt. Ltd. has filed for arbitration to challenge ICANN’s decision to not renew its accreditation. ICANN had sent a breach notice to the registrar for failing to comply with UDRP decisions. Instead of de-accrediting the registrar for the continued breach, ICANN decided to simply not renew its accreditation when it expired. A lawsuit filed earlier this year charges Lead Networks with ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ancestry.com Files Slew of Domain Disputes - Ancestry.com files four domain disputes. In its SEC filing to go public, Ancestry.com warned that it may have difficulty protecting its brand in domain names. The company just took its first step to protecting its name by filing four separate arbitration requests for domain names with World Intellectual Property Organization. It seems that the company filed four “low hanging fruit” cases to establish a precedent. The no-brainer is wwwancestry.com, which you ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
“Assumed Name Squatter” Gets Squatted Herself - Texas lawyer threatens others but forgets to register her own domain name. Yesterday we wrote about Mina Brees, a Texas lawyer who registered assumed names of Texas restaurants that had let their D.B.A.s lapse. She then sent letters (acting as a lawyer on behalf of a client) to the restaurants offering to sell them back their assumed names for $20,000. The letters apparently didn’t mention that Brees is the president of the company making the offer. (Mina Brees ... read more ...
Thu 6th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Comcast Launches “Domain Helper”: we Call It “Cash For Typos” - With all the talk about cash for clunkers program, Comcast just released a product that will give it “Cash For Typos.” According to PcWorld.com, Comcast will direct all non resolving page requests that formerly went to a “sorry this page cannot be found” type page, to a Yahoo landing page. Comcast calls the Program “Domain Helper”. We call it Cash For Typo’s Domain Helper, the only thing its going to help is Comcast, to some cash for typos. We know that this the vast majority of the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Runway Magazine Trips Up Over Domain Name - Fashion magazine loses domain name dispute. Runway Magazine has a domain name issue. The print publication uses the domain name RunwayBeauty.com for its online presence. It also has RunwayMagazine.us. It also registered RunwayMagazine.info/.biz, but neither of those are ideal for a web site. Adding to the complexity, the book and subsequent movie The Devil Wears Prada featured a magazine called Runway magazine. As a result, a lot of traffic is flowing to RunwayMagazine.com. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Disabled American Veterans Wins DAV.com Domain Name Case - Non-profit wins three letter domain name in highly questionable ruling. The non-profit Disabled American Veterans has won the domain name DAV.com through arbitration at National Arbitration Forum. The organization’s main web site is DAV.org. This case gives me great consternation. The truth is, the owner of the web site appeared to use all sorts of whois identities. And, a couple years ago, the domain name did show ads for veterans benefits. But none of these ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
“Assumed Name Squatter” in Hot Water - Lawyer allegedly tries to squeeze Texas restaurants over their assumed names. Think cybersquatters, who register trademarked domain names in an attempt to extort the trademark owners, are bad people? Get a load of this. Texas lawyer Mina Brees has allegedly threatened Texas restaurants that let their assumed names lapse. After their assumed name filings (also know as “doing business as”) with the county lapsed, Brees allegedly snapped them up through a company ... read more ...
Wed 5th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Congress: Create Permanent Tie to ICANN - It’s such positive, uplifting news to see justice and integrity restored. Andrew’s comment is also worded perfectly and is the essence of everything that ICANN seems to fail at … “ICANN has seemed to steamroll dissenters”. This is what I have observed over and over in my own assessment of ICANN as a policy making entity. That elitist “we are better than everyone” undercurrent. I wonder what it will take for some real leadership to step up within that organization and forge ... read more ...
Tue 4th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Trademarking Everyday Phrases: Harvard Gets In On The Act - If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know I’ve been telling readers that the English language is becoming trademarked, as most dictionary words and all common phrases are pretty much trademarked. The Boston Globe reported Saturday,  even Harvard University has gotten into the game and applied for U.S. trademarks on everyday phrases such as “Ask what you can do”,   “Lessons learned”,  “The world’s thinking”, “Power of ideas at work” and “Managing yourself”. The Globe ... read more ...