Tag Archives: legal

Fri 19th July 2013
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
2 Weeks After Seizing 46 Domains, Feds Allow Domains To Expire & Can They Can Go Back To The Previous Owner - On July 5th we told you that some agency of the federal government seized 46 domain names. We noted at the time all 46 were very close to expiration. Today the servers on all 46 domain names that were seized on July 4th have been switched back to DomainControl.com, which are the default servers for domain names registered at Godaddy.com and all domain names currently display the message: “NOTICE: This domain name expired on 07/17/2013 and is pending renewal or deletion” Which mean the domain ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
After Losing UDRP For WIIU.com, Nintendo Allows Domain Like Wiisport.com GamesforWii.com To Drop - After losing a well publicized UDRP decision on WiiU.com, Nintendo allowed other bang on Wii domain names to drop this week only to sit by and watch them be re-registered by companies other than Nintendo. We have pointed this corporate mentality many times before, one in which company’s are willing to spend thousands of dollars in costs and fees to file UDRP’s to attempt to gain control of domains while sitting back watching equally as good or better trademark infringing domains to simply drop. Just ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN still deliberation IGO protections, though adds deadline to discussions - No acronym protections if IGO protections not resolved by Buenos Aires. One of the Governmental Advisory Committee’s (GAC) requests for new top level domain names is that both the names and acronyms of intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) be protected from second level registrations. This is, I imagine, because of the grave damage that would be inflicted on the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts if ECMWF.baseball were to be registered. The GAC’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
USPS loses to Amazon.com on .Mail tip turn domain objection - U.S. mail service tried to argue .mail infringed on its rights for “U.S. Mail”. The United States Postal Services’ Legal Rights Objection to Amazon.com’s bid to run the .mail top level domain name has been denied by a World Intellectual Property Organization panelist. The USPS’ objection to all seven applications for .mail was one of the most head-scratching of all objections. The objection was based on trademarks that include the word mail, primarily “U.S. ... read more ...
Thu 18th July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
GAC plays God with a Durban Communiqué - New TLD applicants’ disdain for the GAC must be growing. The Governmental Advisory Committee has released its Durban Communiqué (pdf), summarizing what it did during this week’s meeting in Durban and its advice to ICANN’s board. Even as someone who’s not directly involved with new TLD applications, I have to admit I got angry reading the Communiqué. I think this sums up my reaction: Just who do these guys think they are? It’s almost as if the GAC knows ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pinterest loses quarrel with Amazon.com over .Pin domain name - Social site loses objection for .pin top level domain name. Social networking site Pinterest has lost an objection it filed with World Intellectual Property Organization over Amazon.com’s bid to get the .pin top level domain name. One of Pinterest’s challenges was showing some sort of rights and secondary meaning in the term “pin”. Amazon.com pointed out that Pinterest has no registered marks for the word pin. It has 63 pending applications to trademark pin, ... read more ...
Wed 17th July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
[Updated] After 10 years, Johnson & Johnson goes after Johnsons.com domain name again - A decade after filing a UDRP for Johnsons.com, Johnson Johnson files another UDRP. [Updated]Johnson Johnson has filed a second UDRP for the domain name Johnsons.com, which was registered way back in 1997. [Update] This is not the first time Johnson Johnson has gone after the domain name. It filed a UDRP in 2003 and lost on the grounds that the domain name was not registered in bad faith. Although technically the name of the registrant has changed since early on, ... read more ...
Tue 16th July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Trademark Clearinghouse Tops 5,000 submissions - Trademark protection service for new top level domains releases statistics. The Trademark Clearinghouse for new top level domains has received 5,000 submissions, the group announced today. 44% of the submissions have come from the United States. 10% are from France, 7% from the United Kingdom, and 4% from Germany. The top category of submissions so far are for “scientific or teaching apparatus” with 23%. That includes a wide range of products, from medical equipment ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN launches ICANN Labs - Group that runs domain name system creates ICANN Labs to help improve communication and engagement. You’re not a cool tech company unless you have a “labs” group. Apparently you’re not a cool tech non-profit if you don’t have one, either. ICANN has launched ICANN Labs, a new initiative to increase participation and engagement in the ICANN process. ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé explains ICANN Labs: The success of ICANN’s multi-stakeholder model hinges on bottom-up, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Just like Express, The Limited loses .Limited new tip turn domain objection - Donuts has scored its second victory against a large fashion brand. The company has successfully defended itself in a Legal Rights Objection brought by Limited Stores, LLC for the top level domain .Limited. It recently won a case brought by Express for .express as well. The .limited case was determined by Robert A. Badgley, who was not the same panelist for the .express objection. Donuts’ application for the .limited domain claims that likely registrants will include ... read more ...
Mon 15th July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Four new tip turn domain name contracts signed - Four IDN top level domains backers sign contracts with ICANN. Yesterday Domain Name Wire reported about dotShabaka Registry signing the first registry agreement for a new TLD with ICANN for شبكة. Today ICANN held a signing ceremony during its meeting in Durban, South Africa, with dotShabaka and three additional top level domain names: Core Association’s онлайн, Russian for “Online”, and сайт, Russian for “Web site” Donuts’ 游戏, Chinese ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
NAF panels reject UDRP claims on Rive.com, GoodTherapy.com and AspenHeights.com - Three domains, including a four letter .com, saved in UDRPs. National Arbitration Forum has published three recent decisions in favor of respondents. Although none of them resulted in findings of reverse domain name hijacking, some of the complaints had serious deficiencies. In Rive.com, the domain owner registered the domain 2004, well before the complainant had any rights in the mark. In the panelists’ words, the complainant also argued that since the respondent ... read more ...
Fri 12th July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Overus.com box provides singular glance into UDRP complaint - Losing complainant posts all documents online, including price negotiations. When Domain Name Wire reports on UDRP decisions, usually all we have is the panelist’s write-up of the decision. This typically includes the panelist’s summary of each party’s case, but not the entire written complaint and response. In the case of Overus.com, which the respondent just won, the complainant actually posted the full complaint online — including evidence he submitted ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
5 ways Express can solve the .Express concerns - Despite losing objection, Express still has plenty of ways to tackle the .express top level domain. American clothing retailer Express (NYSE: EXPR), which has a market cap of close to $2 billion, has lost its Legal Rights Objection against Donuts over the top level domain .express. Kevin Murphy has a good write-up explaining the decision. Express has also applied for the .express top level domain. That means it has many options to resolve its concerns about brand ... read more ...
Thu 11th July 2013
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Suit Filed Over Non-Payment of MD.Org Namejet Record Setting $555,650 Auction - On April 12, 2012, the domain name MD.org sold at a record setting NameJet.com auction for $555,650.00 to the high bidder ID of ‘Winters” Today the seller of the domain name, Privacy LLC, (Privacy) filed a lawsuit along with NameJet, LLC (“NameJet”) against Scott Ross and “Does defendants 1-3″ which “may include Ari Goldberger, Esq. and Larry Fischer”, for  breach of contract, in refusing to pay for the domain name. The suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Fairfax County Virgina. Here ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
True Value sues after losing UDRP - Hardware cooperative files lawsuit in second attempt to get domain name TrueValueWeb.com. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. This Monday I wrote about how United Press International filed a lawsuit after losing a UDRP complaint. Now True Value Company, which also recently lost a UDRP complaint, has done the same thing. The UDRP was for TrueValueWeb.com. As I wrote in my article covering the UDRP last month, True Value made some rather questionable arguments ... read more ...
Mon 8th July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Tesco goes after domain penetrate tes.co – and there’s some-more to come. - Here’s an example of a type of complaint we’ll see more often going forward. Traditionally, UDRP panels don’t consider the top level domain as part of what makes a domain name similar to a mark in which the complainant has rights. We can expect this to change as new top level domain names come online. Here’s an example of how a second level domain is not similar to a complainant’s mark, but the combination of the first and second level domain are: tes.co. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
United Press International sues after losing UDRP - Company that lost UDRP in May files cybersquatting lawsuit. United Press International, commonly known simply as UPI, has filed an in rem cybersquatting lawsuit (pdf) for the domain names UPIPhoto.com and UPIPhoto.org. The company lost a UDRP for upiphoto.com in May. A World Intellectual Property Organization ruled that the registrant of the domain, which goes by the name United Photographers International, had legitimate rights or interests in the domain and had ... read more ...
Fri 5th July 2013
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Feds Seize 46 Domain Names To Celebrate Independence Day - It appears some agency of the Federal Government  seized 46 domain names, all using Godaddy.com servers at DomainControl.com yesterday, on Independence Day in the United States. So far I haven’t see any official announcement of the seizures, nor the agency that sent the order out or the basis for the seizure However all 46 domain names are now on Shadowserver.org, a volunteer organization dedicated to combating global computer crime. The last time a bunch of domain names were moved to Shadowserver.org ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
TM Nightmare: 977 .Com/.Net Google Domains Registered Last Month Only 8 By Google - Over the years we have chatted about over reaching trademark holders and trademark group pushing for great protections and while we have been on the side of the domain holder, in all fairness we do have to admit that for a large trademark holder they have a nightmare on their hands when it comes to domain names. Take Google. In June 2013 we found 977 .com/.net domain names were registered that contained the word “Google” of these only 8 seemed to be registered by Google which uses domain registrar/brand ... read more ...
Wed 3rd July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Board approves new TLD registry agreement - Board approves agreement that will govern new top level domain operators. The New gTLD Program Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors has approved the registry agreement that will be signed by most new TLD operators. The 93 page agreement governs how top level domain operators must manage their namespaces, fees they’ll pay ICANN, and under what conditions ICANN can terminate the registry relationship. Not all registry operators will be pleased with the agreement, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
U.S. Wine organisation questions GAC recommendation on .wine and .vin domain names - Wine Institute questions GAC concerns about geographic second level domains under .wine and .vin. A trade group for the California wine industry has sent an e-mail to ICANN Chairman of the Board Dr. Stephen Crocker questioning the GAC’s advice regarding the .wine and .vin domain names. Wine Institute Director of International Trade Policy Tom LaFaille sent the email on June 20, but it doesn’t appear to be published anywhere on ICANN’s website. The Governmental ... read more ...
Mon 1st July 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Nintendo loses domain brawl for WiiU.com domain name - Company fails to provide enough evidence to panel to convince it to hand over WiiU.com domain name. The World Intellectual Property Organization just posted the text of a decision finding against Nintendo in its bid to get the domain name WiiU.com. Nintendo argued that the respondent “registered” the domain on September 15, 2012. The respondent countered that it had actually registered it in 2004, and that although the registrant name changed multiple times, it ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
UDRP complainant Talks a Talk, Fails to Walk The Walk - Walk the Walk Worldwide fails in domain name dispute. In April I wrote about how a charity had filed a UDRP against Frank Schilling for the domain name WalkTheWalk.com. Walk the Walk Worldwide, which operates WalkTheWalk.org, raises money for breast cancer research by organizing women to walk marathons in bras. It sounds like a great approach to raising money and awareness. Unfortunately, the charity took a not-so-great approach to trying to get the WalkTheWalk.com ... read more ...
Fri 28th June 2013
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Case not sealed on “closed generics”, and there’s a hulk loophole anyway - ICANN pushes off decision on closed generic top level domains, leaving many applications in limbo. This week ICANN’s New gTLD Program Committee passed a resolution about so-called “closed generic” top level domain applications. A closed generic is a generic term applied for by an entity that does not plan to offer second level registrations to any other entities. Amazon.com, for example, doesn’t intend to offer second level registrations for any of the strings ... read more ...