Tag Archives: legal

Mon 1st February 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
New Software Makes it Easier to File UDRPs - Alias Encore releases software tool making it easy to construct UDRP cases. Typosquatting domain recovery company Alias Encore has opened a beta for its new Domain Enforcement and Management System. The system helps companies find out which of their domain names are being typosquatted, prioritize enforcement action, and even use a simple tool to create and file UDRP cases. As a first step, the system allows brand owners to find typos of their domain names, and then ... read more ...
Sun 31st January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Another Generic Domain, LawSociety.com, Gets Taken Away In A WIPO Making It On My Worst Of 2010 List - In a ruling this week,  a three member WIPO Panel gave a generic term, LawSociety.com to a group in the UK based off a trademark for “The Law Society” Here are the findings from the panel: “”The Complainant in this case was “the representative and regulatory body for the solicitors’ branch of the legal profession in England and Wales. It was founded in 1825 under the name of “The Law Institution”. It currently operates under a Royal Charter first granted in 1831. A supplemental charter ... read more ...
Thu 28th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Governments Deliver Another Blow to New Top Level Domain Timeline - GAC asks to postpone expressions of interest for new top level domain names. The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) is asking ICANN to delay a decision on the so-called “Expressions of Interest” process for new top level domain names. In a letter dated January 26, GAC Chairman Janis Karklins says that the period of community feedback has been to short and more time is needed to deliberate and fully understand the implications of the EOI process. The chairman ... read more ...
Tue 26th January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
CADNA Is Bringing The Utah Cybersquatting Bill To Washington On Friday To Criminalize Domaning - The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) is holding an event in Washington DC Friday to bring the proposed Utah trademark law that we wrote about a month ago to a federal level, or Snow Bill 2. If you look at the inviation and agenda of this meeting you will see that CADNA is going to be pushing hard to get the Utah bill enacted as a precursor to ACPA amendments that define cybersquatting in a way that encompasses many domainer activities, substantially increase civil money penalties, and ... read more ...
Mon 25th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Jay Westerdal Drops Most Allegations Against Thought Convergence - Parties file amended claims, with most allegations against TCI dropped. Following a mediation between Jay Westerdal and Thought Convergence over the latter’s acquisition of Name Intelligence, both parties have submitted amended complaints/counterclaims. The most notable difference in the amended filings is that Jay Westerdal has dropped most of the allegations he made against Thought Convergence (TCI) in his counterclaims. Gone are claims that TCI didn’t pay ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Hires New VP of Policy Development and Why it Matters - ICANN hires new VP for policy, which insiders say is a good move. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has hired David Olive to take over the position of Vice President of Policy Development. According to a number of insiders I’ve communicated with, and one very public blog post, this move is very welcome to both many inside and outside ICANN. The focus seems to be less on what Olive brings to the table — he was hired over from Fujitsu, where he ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN To Hold Pre-Conference Security Calls on Nairobi Meeting - Calls to discuss security and logistics. ICANN is doing something different in advance of its next meeting, to be held in Nairobi: advance security and logistics teleconferences. The organization will host identical calls this Thursday and Friday to inform and educate attendees about security measures and how to come prepared. There was talk that ICANN would move the conference after recent demonstrations around Nairobi, Kenya. Apparently this was prompted because ... read more ...
Thu 21st January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
No Decision On Kentucky Domain Seizure Case; So Now We Have To Wait Until March - The Kentucky Supreme Court released decisions on several cases yesterday, as it was scheduled to do. While it was widely expected to issue a ruling on the Domain seizure case, it did not, which means according to its calendar, the next possible date for a decision in the matter will be  in late March, 2010. Google+Michael Berkens ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Considers Security Concerns for Kenya Meeting - Meeting might be moved to different location in Kenya. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has called a special meeting of the Board of Directors to address security concerns for the upcoming ICANN meeting in Kenya. Although the details on ICANN’s web site are minimal, an editorial in ComputerWorld Kenya suggests ICANN is considering moving the meeting from Nairobi to a UN compound in Gigiriin. This isn’t the first time security concerns have ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
DingBats.com Case Discusses Pool.com Lawsuit Over Domain Theft - Case sheds light on Pool.com lawsuit against former registrar partner. A National Arbitration Forum has awarded the domain name Dingbats.com to the complainant in a case against a Pool.com entity. What makes this case interesting is not that Dingbats is a generic term (don’t make me start writing in dingbats!), nor that the complainant bought the rights to a trademark for Dingbats for watches just recently, nor that the domain was originally owned by the previous ... read more ...
Wed 20th January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
The UK “Digital Economy Bill” Gives The Government Rights To Take Action Against Domains - In the UK a new law passed at then end of last year and which will take effect this summer effect domain names. The Digital Economy Bill, contains a provision that gives the Britsh Government the ability to intervene in domain name registration disputes and registrations. Under the Bill Secretary of State may intervene in “.uk” domain name registration where there has been a misuse of domain name registration procedures and the registry has failed to deal adequately with the abuse. The Bill enables ... read more ...
Tue 19th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Cybersquatting Cases Fall in 2009 - Cybersquatting challenges fall in 2009. The number of cybersquatting cases filed under Uniform domain-name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) fell to a three year low in 2009, and the rate of cybersquatting cases compared to the total number of domains registered fell to an all-time low, according to an analysis by Domain name Wire. Data from WIPO, National Arbitration Forum, Czech Arbitration Court, and UDRPSearch, show there were just over 3,700 cases filed in 2009. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Roche, Lego, and Google File Most Domain Arbitration Cases in 2009 - Top UDRP filers for 2009. Here’s a message to all the cybersquatters out there: don’t mess with the companies on this list. Using data from UDRPSearch, Domain Name Wire tabulated the total number of UDRP cases filed by these companies in 2009. This isn’t as easy as it sounds, given that both WIPO and National Arbitration Forum use different names for some companies, and some companies even use multiple names when filing cases with the same provider. Furthermore, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
German Lottery Provider Gets NKL.com Back 3 Years After Theft - Lottery wins domain name it says was stolen in 2006. German state-owned lotto company NKL Nordwestdeutsche Klassenlotterie has won the transfer of the NKL.com domain name, three years after the domain name was allegedly stolen. NKL won the domain name through a WIPO proceeding. In a strange series of events, it appears the domain name may have been stolen in 2006 but NKL didn’t realize this until 2009. The domain name was set to expire on October 10, 2006. In ... read more ...
Mon 18th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
The Biggest Loser: Taco Bell Loses Case for DriveThroughDiet.com Domain - Taco Bell fails to get key domain name, then spreads hot sauce over the facts. Taco Bell kicked off the new year with an unusual ad campaign for the Drive-Thru Diet. The campaign suggests that you can actually lose weight by selecting certain items off the Taco Bell menu. Taco Bell smartly acquired the domain name DriveThruDiet.com prior to launching the campaign. But it didn’t acquire the correctly spelled domain name DriveThroughDiet.com, which is owned by Nelson ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
An Easy Way to Comment on EOI for New Top Level Domain Names - Web based form makes commenting easy. Last week I wrote about how International Trademark Association (INTA) asked its members to comment on ICANN’s proposed “Expressions of Interest” (EOI) scheme for new top level domain names. As a result of INTA’s request to its members, the comments for EOI are filled with unhelpful one-liners such as “I do not support ICANN’s acceptance of pre-registrations for new gTLDs.” If you’d like to leave a more ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
China May Re-Open Individual Registration of .Cn Domain Names - CNNIC plans to re-open registration. Individuals may regain the ability to register .cn domain names sometime in the future, China Daily is reporting. CNNIC, which manages the .cn country code domain name for China, banned individuals from registering the domain names late last year as it cracked down on pornography and false registrations. .Cn became very popular thanks to cut rate pricing, but the low pricing made the domain a popular tool for criminal activity. Earlier ... read more ...
Fri 15th January 2010
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Is The Tribune Company Doing Some CyberSquatting? - We couldn’t help but notice, especially when one of our readers pointed it out to us, that the Tribune Company, one of those giant “old media” companies and owner of the Chicago Tribune, just registered the domain ChicagoSlate.com. The Domain was registered on just a few days ago on January 10, 2010, well after all the speculation over Apple’s new iSlate product hit the news right after Christmas. Of course the Tribune Company could have just come up with this domain out of the blue all on ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Forbes Russia Wins Domain Name and $300,000 Award - Forbes Russia picks up domain name — and $300,000 — in dispute. Forbes Media and Axel Springer Russia, the group that publishes the Forbes magazine and Forbes Online in Russia under license from Forbes Media, have won a case against a cybersquatter for the domain Forbes.ru. Not only did the plaintiffs pick up the domain name, but the court also awarded it a $300,000 fine from the defendant, travel company Landmark VIP Service. According to an article on Forbes ... read more ...
Thu 14th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ardyss Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking for Going After Distributor - Arbitrator says company tried to deceive panel. Wellness and undergarment company Ardyss International has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking by a National Arbitration Forum panel. Ardyss filed a complaint for the domain name ArdyssBodyMagicShop.com, claiming that the owner of the domain was not a contracted distributor for Ardyss and was selling counterfeit Ardyss goods on its web site. Ardyss included an affidavit from the company’s CFO stating ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Swiss Federal Railways Domain Case is One Big Train Wreck - Swiss Federal Railways fails in attempt to get SBB.com domain name. Swiss Federal Railways has lost its case at World Intellectual Property Organization to get the domain name SBB.com. The respondent in the case had founded a company under the name Small Black Box, Ltd. When that company ceased operations under the name, the domain’s ownership was later transferred to the respondents’ personal name. The panel found that the respondent has rights and interests ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Goodwill Drops Lawsuit Over Goodwill.com Domain Name - Lawsuit dismissed, domain name no longer resolves. Goodwill has voluntarily dismissed its case against Cyber2Media over the domain name Goodwill.com. Goodwill Industries International, Inc., filed the case against Cyber2Media following the auction of the expired domain name on NameJet. Cyber2Media bought the domain name for $55,978 in the auction. It was then parked. In its suit, non-profit Goodwill claimed trademark infringement, unfair competition, violation ... read more ...
Wed 13th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
How Long Until China Confiscates Google.Cn Domain Name? - The Google.cn domain name is in jeopardy. If there’s one lesson learned about country code domain names, it’s that you have little protection as a domain registrant. With Google announcing that it will stop censoring its Google.cn search results, it is basically asking for the Chinese government to shut it down. China can take a number of measures to block access to Google in China. One of the simplest steps is to just confiscate the Google.cn domain name. ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Explosive Fight over Meth Lab Cleanup (and other Fun UDRPs) - I’ve finally found someone to clean up that meth lab in my basement. Every once in a while I come across a pending domain name dispute under Uniform domain-name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) that makes me scratch my head in bewilderment. Here’s one such case: Meth-LabCleanup.com. The case was just filed at National Arbitration Forum, so we don’t know who filed it yet. But there is an operating web site at MethLabCleanup.com, and the site at Meth-LabCleanup.com ... read more ...
Tue 12th January 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Panel Hands VisitNorway.us to Owner of VisitNorway.com - A warning to owners of “Visit” domain names. A National Arbitration Forum has handed the domain name VisitNorway.us to Innovasjon Norge, dba Innovation Norway, which owns the domain name VisitNorway.com. The basis for transfer is that the complainant owns common law rights to the term “VisitNorway”. It has applied for a U.S. design trademark for the term, but it is still pending. This case was a bit disturbing, so I did a little digging on “visit location” ... read more ...