Tag Archives: legal

Wed 16th December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Houston Astros Make Play for Domain Name - Houston Astros play ball for domain name. The Houston Astros baseball team may not have had a winning season on the field this year, but they’re hoping for a win off the field: getting the domain name AstrosBaseball.com. The team and Major League Baseball have filed for arbitration at National Arbitration Forum to get the domain name. The official team site is Astros.com, and the team also owns HoustonAstros.com. But AstrosBaseball.com gets a decent amount of ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN to Hold Live Consultation on New gTLD Registry Agreement - Live consultation to settle differences on domain name registry agreement. ICANN has scheduled a live consultation regarding the new top level domain name registry agreement for Thursday, 7 January 2010. The goal of the consultation is to discuss open issues in the agreement including: the process for amending the agreement, aspects of registry services reviews, and registry/registrar separation. One other major issue that should be discussed: (lack of) limits on ... read more ...
Tue 15th December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Comments 15-0 Against Expedited UDRP. So What Will ICANN Do? - Community feedback is pretty clear about Expedited UDRP. ICANN says it takes community feedback into consideration when managing the domain name system. But clearly it’s not a majority rule system. So here’s a clear cut case, involving the Czech Arbitration Court’s proposal to offer an “Expedited UDRP”. Out of 15 commentors, not a single person was in favor of the proposal. Zero. Zip. Nada. All 15 commentors were opposed to it either on principle or ... read more ...
Mon 14th December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Paris’ War on U.S. Domain Owners Coming to a Head - City of Paris can’t hide behind jurisdiction forever. The not-so-pretty side of Paris. For years, the City of Paris (Ville de Paris) has been waging a war on U.S. domain name owners. It has threatened owners of many domains, including Paris.com and Paris.tv, asserting exclusive rights to any domain that includes “Paris” in it. More recently, it filed for domain name arbitration under UDRP against owners of several domain names, including WifiParis.com. The ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Trademark Protection Firm Uses Trademarks in Its Meta Tags - CitizenHawk gets creative with other company’s trademarks. Just when you thought you’ve seen everything… CitizenHawk, a company that helps trademark owners protect against typosquatters, has some peculiar keywords in its meta tags, including trademarks of one major competitor. Yes, you read that right. Here are CitizenHawk.com’s meta keywords on its home page: cybersquatters, typosquatters, internet traffic, domain squatters, experts in stopping typosquatters, ... read more ...
Sat 12th December 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
In The Trademark World You Might Not Be Able To Do Business Under Your Own Name: The Case Of Larry Flynt - An interesting trademark case was on trial this last week in LA. The trial pitted family members against each other. On one side you had Larry Flynt, one of those people that really needs no introduction and his company Larry Flynt Productions, and on the other side two of his nephews who of course also have the last name Flynt, and set up their own production company using the name Flynt Media Corp. Problem is that the younger Flynts were like their uncle wanting to produce and distributing adult ... read more ...
Fri 11th December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dell Wins 7 Domain Name Arbitration Cases - Dell scores victories in domain disputes. Computer and technology services company Dell has received an early Christmas present, winning seven domain name arbitration cases in the span of just one week. For the Dell brand, the company won five cases covering 8 domain names. One is an obvious typo, wwdell.com. The company also won a case for four gaming related domain names: DellConsole.com, DellGaming.com, DellVideoGaming.com, and DellVideoGames.com. Other domains ... read more ...
Thu 10th December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Good Luck Finding a UDRP Arbitration Provider Contract with ICANN - No contract exists with UDRP providers. With two UDRP arbitration providers trying to change up the rules, attorney Jim Davies tried to get his hands on the contract between ICANN and its approved UDRP providers. He hit a stumbling block: there is none. You can see the details of his request for the contract in his public comments (submitted as an individual, not on behalf of his firm or clients) on ICANN’s web site. But it’s worth reprinting them here. I ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Arbitrator Asks Good Questions About Expedited UDRP - Domain name arbitrator asks good questions about Expedited UDRP. The Hon. Neil Brown, a UDRP domain name arbitrator, has submitted comments to ICANN regarding Czech Arbitration Court’s plans for expedited UDRPs. He actually phrases them as rhetorical questions, but they certainly raise a number of issues. They’re worth reading in their entirety, but here’s a summary: Can the Expedited Decision proposal be implemented by amendments to the Supplemental Rules ... read more ...
Tue 8th December 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Making New Law? WIPO Decision On DotHomes.com: “A Trademark By Itself Is Not Enough” If A Domain Is Used For A Site Rather Than A Parked Page - In another example where WIPO panels seem to be making new law, given different legal rights to domain holders that park their domain rather than developed them, we have the case of the domain name; dothomes.com The Complainant owns United States of America trademark registrations for DOTHOME (filed on April 26, 2007 and issued on August 11, 2009) and for .HOME (filed April 25, 2007 and issued February 10, 2009), both in respect of residential real estate marketing and advertising services. It also ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Paxfire: Enabling a Biggest Typosquatters - Typo-redirect service Paxfire adds to patent portfolio. Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. patent 7,631,101 (pdf) for “Systems and methods for direction of communication traffic.” Here’s the abstract: An Internet traffic redirection architecture is disclosed that allows for directing of trash traffic to specified sites. The system or method allows a controller, such as an ISP, to benefit from mistyped Internet addresses so that participating ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Hostess Gets Pie on the Face in Domain Dispute - Decision in domain dispute favorable to non-use of domains for bad faith argument. No Twinkies defenseneeded in domain dispute. Hostess, the bakery that sells treats such as Twinkies and Ding Dongs, has lost a domain dispute over Hostess.com. The domain name was purchased at the TRAFFIC auction in New York in 2007 for $44,000 and hasn’t been used since then. That proved to be a problem for Hostess, since the panel was not persuaded the domain was registered in ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
8 TLDs I’ll Express an Interest In - At $100 a pop, I’d submit an Expression of Interest for a bunch of new top level domain names. Tomorrow ICANN’s board will consider accepting “expressions of interest” for new top level domains from applicants. On DNW Radio a couple weeks ago, Minds + Machines founder Antony Van Couvering suggested that these expressions of interest require a $55,000 payment. I agree that a substantial fee should be required to make it predictive of actual applications. Others ... read more ...
Thu 3rd December 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
The UK Takes Down Over 1,200 domains associated to “Scam Shopping” Sites, On Request Of The Police - According to numerous reports today, Nominet the body responsible for UK domain name registrations the equivalent to VeriSign for .com domains, ” took down 1219 .co.uk domain names at the request of the Metropolitan Police’s Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU)”. As a result, all the sites have been taken down at the registry level to prevent re-registration. The websites associated with the domain names were allegedly run criminal gangs that  purported to sell designer items, including Ugg  boots, ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Even After Lawsuits, Advertising.com Is Still Being Called Ad.com By The Mainstream Media - After the mess caused by AOL’s claim to Ad.com a domain they do not own and the lawsuits that followed, I was surprised to see an article out today on MediaPost.com entitled: “Report: AOL To Pull Premium Advertising From Ad.com“ The article then goes on to talk about how AOL’s “will stop selling premium inventory inventory through its Advertising.com ad network in an effort to boost pricing” The article then goes on to say, they expect “the company to begin selling premium advertising ... read more ...
Wed 2nd December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICA Asks ICANN to Halt Expedited Domain Arbitration Plans - Domain owner organization wants ICANN to review expedited UDRP proposals. Internet Commerce Association has sent a letter to ICANN, asking it to halt plans by two domain name arbitration providers to introduce different version of expedited UDRPs. The plans by World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Czech Arbitration Court (CAC) represent a major overhaul of UDRP policy, yet both organizations are trying to institute the change by merely adjusting their ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Dubai Law Firm Nailed for Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Law firm found guilty of abusing UDRP. It’s bad enough when anyone tries “reverse domain name hijacking” through domain arbitration. It’s worse when the culprit is a law firm. But Bin Shabib Associates of Dubai tried just such a stunt, filing a case for BSA.com. A three person National Arbitration Forum didn’t buy it. Bin Shabib Associates argued that it had rights to the term BSA on the basis that it has filed a trademark application in the United Arab ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Name Administration Challenges “Cheat Code” Trademark - Frank Schilling’s company files petition for cancellation after trademark owner threatens it. If you’ve ever filed for a trademark, you know that it can be a challenging process to get approval. Just ask hotels.com and mattress.com, which have failed in their attempts. But trademarks are inevitably improperly approved by the Unites States Patent and Trademark Office every day. Such is the case with “Cheat Code”, a generic term referring to codes in video ... read more ...
Tue 1st December 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Three Registrars Lose ICANN Accreditation - ICANN sends termination notices to three registrars. ICANN is terminating the accreditation of three domain name registrars for failing to pay their bills. The three domain name registrars — Hosting365 Inc, OOO “Russian Registrar”, and R.B. Data Net LTD — each owe past due accreditation fees. Hosting365 Inc owes $28,089.20 according to ICANN. Apparently there have been some disputes with the registrar and its owners in the past. Operating under the name ... read more ...
Mon 30th November 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
National Arbitration Forum Provides Shortcut to UDRP Arbitrators - Law clerk may have written much of your domain dispute. Being a domain name arbitrator under UDRP for National Arbitration Forum doesn’t pay particularly well. That is, if you are an arbitrator who takes your job seriously. But National Arbitration Forum provides a shortcut to arbitrators, allowing them to “cut-and-paste” their way to quick decisions. Here’s how it works. When an arbitrator receives a new UDRP domain name case, (s)he is also provided with ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Paris Wins Parvi.org in Disturbing Domain Name Arbitration Decision - Paris wins domain as arbitrator throws out “registration AND use” in bad faith. In September I wrote about the city of Paris, France filing a UDRP against three domain names: WifiParis.com, Wifi-Paris.com, and Parvi.org. Paris was just handed a victory in the Parvi.org case; the other two cases are pending. What’s disturbing about the Parvi.org case is that the panel found that the domain name was likely not registered in bad faith, but still handed the domain ... read more ...
Sun 29th November 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
And You Thought Domain Rules Were Unfair, FaceBook Just Takes Them Back Upon Complaint - Consider the case of David Lloyd who registered his nickname ’squaresheep’ on Facebook, the nickname he says he has been known by for over 10 years and used  on other services like Hotmail and Skype.com However last weekend, Facebook notified him that his username had been revoked and awarded to a cooking website of the same name, which had been established for only one year. Facebook told Lloyd that the vanity URL had been taken away from him because it violated its terms and conditions. Facebook ... read more ...
Thu 26th November 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle.com Site is Up & Running & Asking For Contributions - Yes someone actually has a site up and running on the domain, GoogleGoogleGoogleGoogle.com, or as they call it Goog4. What is the site, its just the Google search box broken into 4 squares so you could perform mulitple Google searches without switching windows or tabs in your broswer. Cool idea. Problem is it isn’t Google doing it. The domain was just registered a few months ago and the site “authors” are asking for users to support the site to the tune of $5. “””We’re trying hard to ... read more ...
Wed 25th November 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Calling Out a Worst UDRP Decisions of All Time - New web site calls attention to bad UDRP decisions. There have been a number of poorly decided domain name cases under UDRP, many of which I’ve written about on Domain Name Wire. Now a new site is calling attention to many of these cases in an effort to alert ICANN to flaws in the UDRP process. The 2009 UDRP Wall of Shame highlights a number of these cases and why they were decided incorrectly. One example is Versa.com. Versa Capital filed a UDRP for Versa.com ... read more ...
Tue 24th November 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Green Day Wants AmericanIdiot.com Domain Name - Green Day show heads to Broadway; rock group wants domain name. Alternative rock band Green Day has filed for arbitration to get the AmericanIdiot.com domain name. The timing of its arbitration request is not coincidental. Green Day’s American Idiot album was released back in 2004 and won a Grammy for Best Rock Album in 2005. Hit singles from the album include “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. So why go after the domain ... read more ...