Tag Archives: legal

Thu 6th October 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Donald Trump Gets Domain Name That Was Showing Gay Porn - The Donald gets name of his poker championship but still needs to change the nameservers. Donald Trump has gotten control of the domain name UnitedStatesPokerChampionship.com, which corresponds to the name of a poker championship he founded. The domain name had been showing explicit porn, which is certainly one of the reasons he wanted to get control of it. (Warning: the nameservers haven’t been changed and the porn site still resolves). Trump filed a complaint ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Facebook Recovers 14 Typo Domains That Were in Lawsuit - Defendants hand domain names over to Facebook. Facebook has recovered 14 Facebook.com domain name typos that were named in its massive cybersquatting lawsuit filed in July. The domain names were most recently using the PrivacyProtect.org whois masking service. The names transferred to Facebook include: acebook.com facdbook.com facdebook.com facebokok.com facebooc.com faceboock.com faceboof.com facebooi.com facebool.com faceboook.com faceboow.com facfacebook.com facfebook.com wwwfacebok.com These ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Auschwitz Museum Loses Case for Domain Name - Museum can’t have Auschwitz.org. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, a memorial and museum including the site of former German concentration camps Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II-Birkenau, has failed to get the domain name Auschwitz.org through an arbitration proceeding. The museum filed the case with National Arbitration Forum. The owner owner of the domain name argued that Auschwitz is a historical word and doesn’t belong to the museum. Panelist M. Kelly Tillery determined ... read more ...
Wed 5th October 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New Domain Registrar Accreditation Rules Start Today - New application terms and conditions go into effect. Becoming an ICANN accredited domain name registrar got a little bit tougher starting today. ICANN has just imposed “enhanced” terms and conditions for registrar accreditation applications. Changes include: – Stronger terms governing the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant and an ongoing obligation to maintain accurate information during the course of the application process. – Granting ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Amazon Welcomes Back California Affiliates - Affiliates and rejoin program after governor repeals law. Remember when Amazon fired all of its California “associates” because the state said affiliates created a nexus in the state and was going to force them to start collecting sale tax? California governor Jerry Brown has repealed the affiliate tax law and Amazon is inviting affiliates to rejoin the program. Here’s an email Amazon.com just sent to former affiliates: Hello, As you may have heard, California ... read more ...
Mon 3rd October 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Email Marketing Company Emma Sues Microstrategy, Owner of Emma.com - Emma, Inc. pays for not owning Emma.com. A heavyweight battle is about to ensue over the name “Emma”. Email marketing company Emma, Inc., which operates its main web site at MyEmma.com, has sued publicly traded MicroStrategy for trademark infringement (pdf). MicroStrategy has owned the domain name Emma.com since the 1990s but didn’t use it until recently. The company is no small fish; it has a market cap of $1.22 billion. At issue is MicroStrategy’s recent ... read more ...
Fri 30th September 2011
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Company Sues Facebook Over New Timeline Feature, Says it Hijacked Its Username - Company claims trademark infringement and that Facebook hijacked its username. The Chicago company that owns Timelines.com and a federally registered trademark for “Timelines” has filed a trademark infringement suit (pdf) against Facebook over its new “Timeline” feature. According to the suit: Facebook has announced its intention to use and, indeed has already begun to re-direct Internet traffic, using Timelines’ federally registered “TIMELINES” ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Don’t Mess With Texas’ Domain Names - Texas Department of Transportation wins domain name dispute over DontMessWithTexas.com. The Texas Department of Transportation has a message for domain name owners: Don’t Mess with Texas. The organization just won a National Arbitration Forum case over the domain name DontMessWithTexas.com. The owner of the domain name didn’t respond to the dispute. Barring any late legal action by the owner, the domain will be transferred to the state within 10 days. Don’t ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pre-Paid Legal Has Rebranding Problem with Domain Name - Controversial legal services company is rebranding but doesn’t have the domain name. Pre-Paid Legal Services is changing its name to LegalShield, but it has a big problem: it doesn’t own LegalShield.com. Just a short time after filing an intent to use trademark application for “LegalShield” the company filed a UDRP complaint for LegalShield.com. The respondent, represented by Ari Goldberger of Esqwire.com, won the case. What’s interesting to me is that Pre-Paid ... read more ...
Thu 29th September 2011
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Acorn.TV Battle Moves to a Courts - Parties to litigate over Acorn.tv ownership. Earlier this month I wrote about a very poor UDRP decision for Acorn.tv. The registrant lost the case. I later talked to the registrant and he informed me he was moving forward with a lawsuit against complainant Acorn Media Group. This would explain why Acorn Media Group is now suing to try to get the domain name since the UDRP transfer was halted. Right off the bat there seems to be a major problem with Acorn Media Group’s ... read more ...
Sun 25th September 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Facebook Registers FBPAC Domains Previously Owned by American Farm Bureau - Facebook makes intriguing domain registrations. Facebook has yet to settle an ongoing trademark dispute with American Farm Bureau despite paying millions to buy the FB.com domain name from it. Now Facebook may have upped the ante, registering FBPAC.org and FBPAC.us. The two domain names were previously registered to American Farm Bureau until they expired in 2009. American Farm Bureau owns FBPAC.com and FBPAC.net. Although the farmer lobbying group doesn’t operate ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Roche Loses Control of 454.com, Fights to Get It Back - Pharma company loses key domain name. [Update: Roche has won the domain arbitration.] Roche subsidiary 454 Life Sciences has lost control of its 454.com domain name and is asking a UDRP panel to help it get it back. The history on 454.com is intriguing. Piecing it together with the help of DomainTools’ historical whois, there are several times over the past two years when this domain name may have been compromised. But earlier this month it suddenly was under a ... read more ...
Sat 24th September 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Forbes.com: Out Of Google Senate Hearing: “Google’s ‘Bait & Switch’ Deception Exposed” - Forbes.com just wrote a pretty scathing article on Google based off the Senate antitrust hearing on Thursday saying  “Google has perpetrated what maybe the largest bait and switch scheme ever.” “Simply, Google has baited over a billion users to implicitly trust Google Search by continuously promising that its search engine is unbiased and “always does what is best for the user.” “However, as Google’s market power has grown over time, the evidence shows Google has increasingly switched ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Is this Trademark Lawsuit Unethical or Something Worse? - Trying to get a domain name that existed before your trademark. I’m a big supporter of intellectual property rights. Unfortunately I’m stuck writing more often about lawyers and companies that overstep their bounds. The latest case: Smart Tax Holdings, LLC. The company filed a federal lawsuit (pdf) against Marchex for the domain name SmartTax.com. The plaintiff started using the name “Smart Tax” in 2006 and filed a trademark on it. The trademark was granted ... read more ...
Fri 23rd September 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Breaking: Federal Court Rules Bad Faith Under ACPA Applies Only To Initial Registration Not To Renewals Or Transfers - While these exchanges between the Hises and GoPets Ltd. were taking place, the Hises added content to gopets.com. According to records from the Internet Archive, a non-profit organization that archives websites, content first appeared on gopets.com on September 26, 2004, approximately a month after Bethke’s first inquiry about the site. Initially, the content consisted solely of a picture and description of a lost dog. The record does not reflect whether the website was updated at all during the ... read more ...
Thu 22nd September 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Chanel Files Massive SuitAgainst 399 Domain Holders and over 450 Domain Names - Chanel just filed a massive  lawsuit against 399 defendants holding over 450 domain names some of which contain a trademark of owned by one of  Chanel company and others sites which sell what Chanel alleges are counterfeit products. Chanel is asking the court for many remedies including injunctive relief, transfer or cancellation of the domain names,  as well as attorney fees and other damages against all the defendants, many of which live outside the US or have registered addresses outside of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Etsy Upset About “Sucks” Domains - Company files complaint over EtsySucks.com and four other domains. [Update: Etsy won the case.] Arts marketplace Etsy.com has filed a complaint with National Arbitration Forum over EtsySucks.com, .net, .org, .biz, and .info. The domain names appear to be owned by the former editor of the now defunct “Unofficial Etsy News Blog”. Etsy has received its fair share of criticism from current and former users, so it’s no surprise that these domain names exist. Freedom ... read more ...
 
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Cricket Communications Dismisses Case Against Cricket.com Owners - Cricket.com to remain with current owners. Wireless company Cricket Communications has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit it brought against the owners of Cricket.com. Cricket Communications sued Global Cricket Ventures alleging that the site about the cricket sport was merely a coverup to show ads related to wireless phones. The mobile phone company said that Global Cricket Ventures had hardcoded a Cricket Wireless logo onto its site to look like it was merely part ... read more ...
Tue 20th September 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Justice Department: Full Tilt Poker Was Ponzi Scheme - U.S. government says Full Tilt Poker paid out money to investors that belonged to players. Earlier this year the U.S. government confiscated Full Tilt Poker’s domain name FullTiltPoker.com. The government later gave the domain name back, but now there’s more bad new for the company — or should I say its players? Now the U.S. government has basically called it a giant ponzi scheme. The company allegedly didn’t hold onto all of its players’ cash balances and ... read more ...
Mon 19th September 2011
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Breaking: NBC Transfers Women.com to Done! Ventures in Lawsuit Settlement - Busted seven figure domain name deal comes to resolution. It looks like the end result of a legal battle over Women.com has ended with the transfer of the domain name to Done! Ventures. Done! Ventures thought it had a deal to purchase Women.com and Women.net from NBC Universal for $1 million last year. But then NBC allegedly backed out when its then President CEO Jeff Zucker apparently vetoed the deal. Done sued NBC to get it to go through with the sale. It later ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Releases New TLD Guidebook - ICANN releases yet another — but not necessarily final — applicant guidebook for new gTLDs. As I promised in a post yesterday, ICANN has released another version of the new top level domain name guidebook today. Although many will look at this is the final guidelines, there’s still room for changes. ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom writes: ICANN will provide further refinements to the Guidebook as warranted. In addition, information will be given on the process for providing ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Panelist Calls Clause in Name.com Registration Agreement “Extraordinary” - Panelist finds it odd that Name.com makes domain registrant responsible for its own “coming soon” pages. UDRP panelist Warwick A. Rothnie has called a clause in Name.com’s registration agreement related to parked pages an “extraordinary arrangement”. The clause basically says that Name.com will put up ads on your recently registered domain name but that the registrant is responsible for making sure the ads don’t violate third party intellectual property ... read more ...
Fri 16th September 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Registrars and Web Hosts Sued Over Email Patent - Big registrars find themselves defendants in patent lawsuit. GoDaddy, Network Solutions, and Rackspace are among the defendants names in a new patent lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division. The suit (pdf) was filed by MXGO Technologies Inc, a company who’s only hits on Google involve patents and lawsuits. The Marshall court is a popular court for filing patent lawsuits. MXGO is the assignee of United States Patent ... read more ...
Thu 15th September 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
For Years We Have Been Telling You Every Word Is Trademarked & Now Even The ‘F” Word Is - If you have been a frequent reader of thedomains.com, you know we have been looking at the trademark system warning that every word, two letter, three letter and every saying your grandma taught you is trademarked somewhere in the world. So we were not surprised to learn the even the “f” word has now been granted trademark protection. In this case the trademark was granted in Germany for the word  ” Ficken”  which translated into F**K or F**king in English. Spiegel.de is reporting that ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Verizon Gets CitiBank Trademark Domain? - Cut and past error shows Verizon Trademark Services winning CityCard.com UDRP. We’ve seen a number of UDRP decisions that fall victim to cut-and-paste mistakes. The latest comes courtesy of a National Arbitration Forum panelist who copied the header from his previous UDRP case into the new one. The new case is Citigroup Inc. v. Yongki over CityCard.com. Citigroup won the case, but you would know it from the header. The header says the case was Verizon Trademark ... read more ...