Tag Archives: legal

Tue 31st May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
TMZ: Bravo Coming After The Owner of RealHousewivesofScottsdale.com though Other Housewives Domain Are Parked - According to TMZ.com, Bravo TV wants to shut down live cam website  RealHousewivesofScottsdale.com. According to TMZ: “A rep for the reality network fired off a letter on Monday to RealHousewivesofScottsdale.com — a site that boasts live XXX performances from several “housewives” — and accused the site of sullying the “Real Housewives” reputation.” But the site owner says he is not  pulling the plug on anything … and he’s willing to go to court over it. Of course there is ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New TLD Guidebook Won’t Be Approved in Singapore - The guidebook itself won’t be done — but ICANN will approve something in June. I’ve gone through the latest version of the new top level domain name applicant guidebook and read ICANN’s explanation of what it is. I’d call it version 0.7 (beta). And I’d argue that there will be no approval of the guidebook at June’s ICANN meeting in Singapore. Instead, ICANN hopes to loosely “approve the new gTLD program”. It’s right there in ICANN’s introduction ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Recommends Against Revamping UDRP - ICANN staff says now is not the time to open wholesale rethink of UDRP. Echoing the sentiments of a number of UDRP providers as well as prominent UDRP defense attorneys, ICANN’s staff has recommended against having the Generic Names Supporting Organization opening a “policy development process” on UDRP. However, in a new report ICANN notes that there are some complaints about process and implementation of UDRP that may warrant review should GNSO feel it necessary ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lawsuit Alleges Reverse Domain Name Hijacking of AirFX.com - Man files lawsuit after losing UDRP. The same attorney who successfully defended the owner of glennbeckrapedandmurderedayounggirlin1990.com has filed a reverse domain name hijacking lawsuit on behalf of the owner of AirFX.com. Marc Lurie lost a case over AirFX.com brought against him by AirFX, LLC in a National Arbitration Forum proceeding. Together with attorney Marc J. Randazza, he is now suing AirFX, LLC (pdf) for reverse domain name hijacking in U.S. District ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Hospitality Company Claims Leisure.com Infringes Its Trademarks - Company wants to trade up to better domain name through lawsuit. Leisure Hotel Corporation has filed a lawsuit against the owner of Leisure.com claiming trademark infringement, counterfeiting, false designations of origin, and cybersquatting (pdf). Let me ask you a simple question: If you were the person who plunked down $150,000 to buy Leisure.com a couple years ago, what would you plan to do with it? The most obvious thing would be a site about travel. It’s ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Latest New TLD Applicant Guidebook Still Disses Go Daddy, Demand Media - Companies still fall victim to anti-cybersquatting rule for new TLD applicants. The latest (but certainly not final) version of the new top level domain name guidebook still includes a provision that, at least by the spirit of the clause, would prevent Go Daddy and Demand Media (NYSE: DMD) from applying for new top level domain names. Section 1.2.1 of the May 20 release (large pdf) includes a laundry list of reasons why an applicant would be barred from registering ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Biggest Winner from New TLDs May Be Jones Day Law Firm - Jones Day will get hefty pay day defending ICANN new in top level domain name disputes. Who will make the most money from ICANN’s introduction of new top level domain names? It’s likely to be law firm Jones Day. ICANN has already publicly stated that it’s setting aside about a third of the application fees from new top level domain names for legal issues. Its latest applicant guidebook specifically states that Jones Day is likely to defend ICANN in any legal ... read more ...
Fri 27th May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Godaddy Loses Appeal On Case Holding Them Negligent In Turning Over Ownership Of Domain Accounts - Go  Daddy.com,  Inc.,  filed an appeal  from a judgment entered in favor of Jeff Eysoldt, Mark Eysoldt, and Jill Eysoldt who had an account with Godaddy only to see the account control turned over to another person.  Here are the facts as laid out by the court: “In  November  2002,  Jeff  Eysoldt  opened account number 1165490 with Go Daddy and transferred his domain name, Eysoldt.com, into that account. When he set up the account, he agreed to the terms of  Go   Daddy‟s  Domain  ... read more ...
Thu 26th May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Disney Surrenders To The Navy & Gives Up Trademark Application For Seal Team 6 - A couple of  weeks ago we wrote about Disney applying for a trademark on the term Seal Team 6 just days after the raid led by the Seals led to the killing of Bin Laden. Today comes the news courtesy of FoxNews.com that Disney has withdrawn its multiple trademark applications on the term Seal Team 6. The Navy spokeswoman Amanda Greenberg is quoted as saying: “The Navy is committed to fully protecting our trademark rights as it pertains to this matter and will continue to examine all our legal ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Pac-10 Goes After More Domain Names - Sporting conference files dispute over three domain names. The Pac-10 conference, which now has twelve teams with the addition of Colorado and Utah and will rebrand as the Pac-12, is again turning to the World Intellectual Property Forum in an effort to get domain names related to its new brand. The group filed a complaint (and won) over pac-12network.com, pac12network.com, and pac-12network.org. All three are registered to an Ontario man. The collegiate athletic ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Apple Sues Owner of WhiteiPhone4Now.com, Then Dismisses Case - Seller of white iPhones sued. Apple has sued the owner of WhiteiPhone4Now.com (as well as the domain name itself), but then filed to dismiss the case on the same day (pdf). However, the dismissal is “without prejudice”, meaning it can be refiled. It’s possible Apple was already in settlement talks with the owner or is refiling the case elsewhere. Apple alleges the owner used the site to sell conversion kits to make the traditionally black iPhone white. The ... read more ...
Wed 25th May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
VeriSign and Go Daddy Increase Government Lobbying - Two domain name industry heavyweights spend more on government lobbying in 2010. Both VeriSign and Go Daddy substantially increased their spending on U.S. government lobbying over the past year, data collected by Domain Name Wire show. The numbers are based on public records filed with the U.S. Senate under the Lobbying Disclosure Act. VeriSign spent $3.315 million on lobbying last year, up from $2.4 million in 2009. Go Daddy Group, which owns domain name registrar ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Mike Mann Ordered to Transfer 21 Domains to Facebook - Facebook awarded 21 trademark-infringing domain names. A World Intellectual Property Organization panel has ordered BuyDomains founder Mike Mann and his company Domain Asset Holdings to transfer 21 domain names to social networking site Facebook. The domain names all include Facebook plus an additional word, such as AboutFacebook.com, FacebookFest.com, and FacebookStuff.com. The case was delayed at first over some confusion apparently caused by Mann’s legal team. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Fortune 500 Company Goes After Three Letter .Com But Loses - Company with $5 billion in annual sales decides to try to nab domain through arbitration rather than buy it. The price just went up. The owner of TDS.com has successfully defended his domain name from Telephone and Data Systems, Inc in a UDRP case. Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. is #450 on this year’s Fortune 500 list and generated nearly $5 billion in revenue last year. TDS.com was originally registered way back in 1991. The current registrant, Daniel Wang, ... read more ...
Mon 23rd May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
More Poker Domain Seizures Today: BookMaker.com, TruePoker.com, FunTimeBingo.com, Doylesroom.com & More - According to the BaltimoreSun.com, to TheBayNet.com more Internet gambling sites were seized and their international owners were indicted today, this time by a Maryland federal grand jury. The domain names and sites were seized today include: Bookmaker.com Truepoker.com Funtimebingo.com Goldenarchcasino.com Betmaker.com Betgrandesports.com Doylesroom.com Betehorse.com Beted.com 2Betsdi.com (however I checked these and all the domain names still seem to be operating as of time of publication) Charged ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
If You Screw With Golden Nugget You Probably Won’t Get A UDRP But A Federal Lawsuit - Vegasinc.com is reporting that GNLV Corp the owner of the Golden Nugget Casinos,  filed two suits in the last month over two typo domain names. The most recent suit was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas against Kanter Associates SA for cybersquatting and trademark infringement. The domain name in question is thegoldennuggett.com which has an extra ‘T’ at the end of the domain. The domain holder is a Panama company. According to the site the domain “links to travel and reservation ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
MarkMonitor: Brandjacking Costs Top Hotels $2B+ a Year - Majority of estimated “losses” are from keyword search engine bidding. MarkMonitor just released a “Brandjacking” report (pdf) about online hotel bookings, estimating that large hotel brands lose over $2 billion a year in lost bookings and unnecessary commissions. The bulk of these losses are from competitors and travel agencies bidding on hotel brand names in search ads. Also included in the report is a study of cybersquatting of 5 top hotel brands. MarkMonitor ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Owner of FLVS.net Sues Frank Schilling Over FLVS.com - Schilling’s company named in lawsuit over four letter domain name. Florida VirtualSchool, which runs an online education service at FLVS.net, has sued Frank Schilling’s Name Administration, Inc. over his FLVS.com domain name. The suit (pdf) also names K12, Inc. Florida VirtualSchool says K12, Inc. is a competitor and was receiving clicks from the FLVS.com domain name, which is parked. Florida VirtualSchool has registered trademarks for Florida VirtualSchool and ... read more ...
Sun 22nd May 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN: We Might Still Be Able To Approve New TLDs in June - Organization says it still might be able to move ahead with program next month. ICANN’s Board thinks it might still be able to approve the new top level domain name program at the beginning of next month’s meeting in Singapore. The approval was put into doubt after comments from government officials. But ICANN and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) just released a joint statement about another “productive meeting” between the two of them. The statement ... read more ...
Sat 21st May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Get Your Popcorn Ready: The Navy Enters The TM Race Again This Time For “Navy Seals” - The Department of the Navy has filed a trademark attempting to take ownership of the term Navy Seals Earlier this week we reported that Disney just 2 days after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, filed for a Trademark on the term “Seal Team 6″ A couple of days ago Fusible.com reported that the Navy filed a trademark for the term “Seal Team” Now it appears that The Department of the Navy has filed a trademark for the term Navy Seals. This trademark application was made on March 13th. A ... read more ...
Fri 20th May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
California Bill Seeks To Regulate Social Networking Sites With Fines Up to $10K Per Violation - California state senator Ellen Corbett proposed an amended version of the Social Networking Privacy Act (SB 242). The Bill would require social networking websites to design by default,  privacy settings that prevent any information about a user (other than name and city) from being displayed to the public or other users without affirmative consent from the user. Social networking websites would also be required to: (1) create a process for new users to set their privacy settings before they ... read more ...
Wed 18th May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Trademark Holder On Milf Hunters Loses UDRP Bid For The Domain MilfHunters.com & Gives Domain Holders A Good Opinion To Use - RK Netmedia, Inc. represented by Randazza Legal Group, brought an UDRP for the domain name MilfHunters.com The domain holder beat back the challenge despite a trademark and use of the domain in a competitive manner to the trademark holder. More importantly there is some very good langage in the opinion for domain holders in general. Here are the facts: The Complainant has a United States trademark for MILFHUNTER in international class 41 for entertainment services in the nature of photographic images, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How ICANN Will Spend $67 Million of Your Money - ICANN expects to spend $67 million in the year starting July 1. That’s if the new gTLD program doesn’t kick off. Since you, the readers of this blog, ultimately provide ICANN’s funding, it’s important to know how your money is being spent. So you should take some time to look through and comment on the FY12 Operating Plan and Budget (pdf). FY 2012 starts July 1, 2011. ICANN plans to spend $69.7 million in FY 2012 (including depreciation and bad debt expenses), ... read more ...
Tue 17th May 2011
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Sedo.com Sued For $10 Million Dollars Over Failed Women.com Purchase - According to a press release issued today: “DONE Ventures, LLC  has added domain name broker, Sedo, LLC, to its lawsuit over the domain names Women.com and Women.net.” Sedo is a business unit of Sedo Holding AG (XETRA: SDO.DE ), headquartered in Cologne, Germany, with US operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Sedo.com is tracked by our DomainStock Index) The complaint, filed in Federal Court last week, states that Sedo accepted an offer, on behalf of its client, NBC Universal, to sell ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
VeriSign and 25 Others Ask ICANN for “Packaged” IDN TLD Applications - Request asks for bundling of multiple transliterations and translations of new gTLDs in applications. VeriSign is amongst 26 signatories on a letter (pdf) to ICANN requesting “packaged” top level domain name applications. The group writes that “there is no mechanism in the Guidebook that will support applicants that wish to offer multiple script versions of their community or product, whether ASCII or IDN, to serve the diverse needs of non-English and non-Latin ... read more ...