Tag Archives: legal

Fri 4th September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Sky Broadcasting Loses Domain Dispute over SkyTravel.com - British Sky Broadcasting fails to convince arbitration panel of rights to SkyTravel.com domain name. Broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting Group has failed to convince a three person World Intellectual Property Organization panel that it should get the domain name SkyTravel.com. The defeat is due in part to one of the arbitration panelist’s personal experiences. Sky operates a travel channel called Sky Travel and owns trademarks related to the name. But the owner ... read more ...
Wed 2nd September 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Hosting Companies Hit With $32 Million Dollar Verdict In Trademark Infringement Case - A little outside the world of pure domaining, but as another example of how trademark owners are continuing to press for greater protection for their brands and expanding those they are trying to hold responsible for infringement, comes the news that a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found 2 Web hosting companies and their owner (personally)  liable, for contributing to trademark and copyright infringement for hosting sites selling counterfeit Louis Vuitton ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Domain Name Scam Moves Web Site Again - Scam moves to a new domain. I’m getting tired of writing these stories (again), but I consider them a public service announcement. A long running domain name appraisal scam has moved to a new domain name, Macez.com. That the scammers keep moving shows that the scam is working well by getting unsuspecting people to pay for an appraisal at Macez.com. If you receive this email, hit “report spam” on your email client. Do not buy a domain appraisal from macez.com. from ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Casinos.org Prevails, But No Reverse Domain Name Hijacking? - Casinos.org owner can keep domain but panel fails to find RDNH. As a follow up to an article on Domain Name Wire back in June, the owner of Casinos.org has successfully defended his domain name in a UDRP case. Cedric Rimbault of Rungis, France, registered a French trademark for Casinos.org and registered the c-a-s-i-n-o-s.org domain name. He then tried to buy the domain name Casinos.org for as much as $9,000. When the owner asked for $115,000, Rimbault filed a claim ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Minds+Machines Sues Wolfgang Puck over .Food TLD - Consulting firm sues Wolfgang Puck and his wife over failed .food deal. As if the new top level domain craze couldn’t get any weirder, new TLD consulting firm Minds+Machines is suing Wolfgang Puck and his wife. The lawsuit was filed by Minds+Machines, Top Level Domain Holdings, LTD., a British Virgin Islands registered company, and Federick R. Krueger. The lawsuit claims that Wolfgang Puck and his wife tried to interject themselves into all new TLDs Minds+Machines ... read more ...
Tue 1st September 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
.Sport Asks, Just What is a Top Level Domain? - .Sport questions the definition of “top level”. If the .Sport Policy Advisory Council has its way, Shaq won’t be able to get his hands on the .basketball TLD. In a letter to ICANN Chairman Peter Dengate-Thrush and CEO Rod Beckstrom, the .Sport Policy Advisory Council suggests that a top level domain name should be the very top of a category, and anything less than that would diminish the importance of top level domain names. The letter states: …Thus, the ... read more ...
Mon 31st August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
ICANN Seeking a Full-Time Lobbyist - ICANN posts job listing for VP of Government Affairs. When then-ICANN CEO Paul Twomey got grilled by Congress in June, I wondered how ICANN didn’t think to do a bit of lobbying before the hearing. ICANN spends a little money on lobbying, but not much. Now that it’s clear the organization can’t just run away from government control, the company is revving up its lobbying engine. First step: hire a Vice President of Government Affairs. According to the job ... read more ...
Sun 30th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Ta Ta, WIPO. New Candidate for Worst UDRP Decision Ever - Worst UDRP decision ever? Company says Ta Ta to WIPO. An Indian company is taking a domain battle to court after a WIPO domain panelist handed its domain owner to conglomerate TaTa Sons. The domain at issue is OKTaTaByeBye.com, a travel web site based on the colloquial saying “Ta Ta”, as in bye-bye or see you later. OKTaTaByeBye.com is run by a large online travel company that operates MakeMyTrip.com. TaTa Sons stated in its complaint that “the Respondent ... read more ...
Fri 28th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
US Modifies Border Search Rules Of Your Devices When You Enter The US, But Just A Little - The Homeland Security Department, announced today some time limitations on how long border agents can hold on to devices they seize at the border. As we pointed out last year in a post, when you come into the United States your laptop and cell phone, along with all your other possession are subject to search and seizure, whether you’re a visitor to the US or a citizen returning into the US. Although citizens in the US are normally entitled to the protection of the 4th amendment right against unreasonable ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Man Charged with Bilking Lumber Liquidators with Domain Purchases - Virginia man allegedly pays himself by selling domains to his employer. Justin Godfrey, founder of domain name escrow service EscrowDNS, began to think something was wrong. Joshua Everett, an e-commerce manager with Lumber Liquidators, started doing a lot of business through EscrowDNS.com in November 2008. He purchased a number of domains on behalf of Lumber Liquidators. At first he purchased them from a company called DNS Investing. Later, a company called Delorean ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Yahoo Fights for Yahoo.tel - Yahoo is first major tech company to try to get .tel domain name through domain arbitration. Yahoo has filed for arbitration with National Arbitration Forum to get the domain name Yahoo.tel. Yahoo is the first major tech company to try to get its hands on a .tel domain name through arbitration. Many other tech companies, including Google, registered their .tel domain names during the so-called “sunrise period” for about $300. Arbitration will cost the company ... read more ...
Thu 27th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
New American Bar Association Trademark Chairman Is Focused On Domain & Online Issues: Get Ready - Today an lawyer, Anthony Biller, Esq., a  Member of the law firm of, Coats and Bennett, has been appointed to chair the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Committee on Trademark Litigation. According to the press release Mr. Biller in his roll as chairman of ABA committee is concerned with several issues including: “The potential expansion of domain name infringement, or “cybersquatting”, that may occur with the introduction of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs).” Moreover Mr. Biller ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Certipost Pays to Settle Domain Dispute - Company pays to end lawsuit brought by VirtualPoint, Inc. Document exchange company Certipost has paid an undisclosed amount to settle a lawsuit brought by VirtualPoint, Inc. over the domain name Certipost.com. VirtualPoint’s owner David Lahoti registered the domain name back in 2000. A couple years later Certipost started. In 2008 Certipost filed a UDRP to get the domain name through WIPO and won in a strange decision. The WIPO panelist decided that, since Lahoti ... read more ...
Tue 25th August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
USU.com Saved, But Panel Doesn’t Consider Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Software company fails to snag USU.com domain. But where’s the beef? A three person panel at WIPO has ruled in favor of the current registrant of USU.com in a domain dispute. However, in a brief opinion, it failed to consider the issue of reverse domain name hijacking. The domain name arbitration case was brought by software company USU AG of Germany, which was represented by Hössle Kudlek Partner, Patentanwälte, Germany. The respondent was represented ... read more ...
Mon 24th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
ThePirateBay.Org ISP Ordered To “Shut It Down” - In the latest twist of a story we have been following for a while, the ISP which serves as the main backbone for the filing sharing site, (Black Internet) ThePirateBay.org was ordered today to stop servicing the site today or face penalties. According to various news sources as of 9:30 a.m. PT, ThePirateBay.org appeared to be mostly inaccessible. Although other ISP’s carry the site, Black Internet was its main backbone. In other ThePirateBay.org news today,  the official,  Swedish government ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Too Hot: Hotcam.com Domain Case was Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Case is too hot for arbitration. Video equipment company HotCam, Ltd. has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in an arbitration case over the domain name Hotcam.com. HotCam, Ltd. filed the case with National Arbitration Forum, citing the company’s Great Britain trademark as grounds for transfer. The company filed for the trademark in 2000 and claimed to have been founded in London in 1998, but didn’t provide a specific date or any proof of its ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
7,000 Domains Won Through UDRP Have Expired - Expired domain names show disconnect between corporate functions. Corporation Service Company (CSC), a brand protection company, released a study today about the expenses incurred by brand holders to get domain names through UDRP. The study suggests companies have spent $220 million getting domains back through UDRP, and that it would have only cost $1.1 million had they proactively registered the domains. But what I found more interesting is how many domains won ... read more ...
Sat 22nd August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
Moniker’s “Bidders Contract” Looks Strong To Me - I was looking back at the events of this week concerning the ad.com disputes, I realized that I had never read the “bidders contract” that I have signed many times at TRAFFIC and DomainFest shows, with Moniker.com I know your thinking “how could Mike, being an attorney, never read the contract? Well if you have ever been to a TRAFFIC or DomainFest show, you would see that most bidder sign up and get their paddles right before the auction. Typically, there is a lunch before the auction, then ... read more ...
Fri 21st August 2009
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Non-Profit Urban Logic Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - Arbitrator faults non-profit for harassing domain owner. Palo Alto-based non-profit Urban Logic, Inc. has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a domain dispute at World Intellectual Property Organization. The non-profit uses UrbanLogic.org. But, as you might expect, a number of people looking for the non-profit or sending an email actually type in UrbanLogic.com. UrbanLogic.com is owned by Peter Holland, who ran a consulting business at the domain ... read more ...
Thu 20th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
eHotel.com Ordered Transfered In WIPO - The domain name eHotel.com was transferred pursuant to a WIPO complaint filed by “ehotel” owned by AG of Berlin (“AG”). The panel found that “AG” possessed “both German and Community trademarks that comprise the terms “eHotel Services” and “eHotel” respectively.” “Each is in respect of services that cover the making of travel arrangements. “The Domain Name can only be sensibly understood as the English word “hotel” prefixed with the letter “e”, together with the ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
For National Car Rental, Green Means Stop Using Your Domain Name - Car rental company gets greedy with domain arbitration. Vanguard Trademark Holdings USA LLC, the trademark affiliate of National Car Rental, has been busy filing domain arbitration cases lately. One of those caught my eye today: GreenMeansGo.com, filed with World Intellectual Property Forum. It caught my eye because “Green Means Go” is a common and generic phrase. Alas, that doesn’t keep a trademark holder from trying to grab the domain. The company actually ... read more ...
Wed 19th August 2009
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
FlowBee Files Suit Against Google For Selling PPC Ads To Competitors - Flowbee is the latest company to file suit against Google for selling sponsored search ads to competitors under its trademarked keyword. The suit filed in federal district court in Corpus Christi, Texas argues that people are confused when they search for Flowbee and see a “sponsored” ads for competitors. “On information and belief,” the company asserts in its complaint, “many consumers incorrectly believe that Flowbee ‘sponsors’ these ‘sponsored links.’ “ This is of course just ... read more ...
 
Written by The Domains in EN and tagged
AOL Asks A Court To Order Advertise.com To Stop Using It’s Own Name - In its lawsuit filed against Advertise.com today in federal court, AOL demanded not only damages, but also for the court to order advertise.com, to change its company name and stop using the term advertise.com The suit asks the court to grant to AOL: “””A.   Preliminarily and permanently enjoining and restraining Advertise.com, and all entities under its control, as well as its parents, subsidiaries, licensees, owners, directors, officers, partners, assigns, related entities, predecessors, ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, Rain.com Comes Under Attack - Rain.com enters arbitration. If it seems like it has been raining frivolous domain arbitration disputes lately, then this should catch your eye: someone has filed to get the domain name Rain.com. You read that correctly — Rain.com. The case was filed Tuesday at National Arbitration Forum. Unlike WIPO, National Arbitration Forum doesn’t list the name of the complainant until a decision has been rendered. But we know plenty about the domain owner, hosting company ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Porsche Sets Eyes on Boxter.com - Car company wants Boxter.com (typo) domain name. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG has filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Organization to get the domain name Boxter.com. Boxster is one of the company’s popular cars. I remember back in the bubble days earlier this decade it seemed like most cars pulling out of tech company garages in Austin were Boxsters. A couple years later you could buy them on the cheap. Boxter.com is currently a parked page showing ... read more ...