ICANN released the Dotless Domain Name Security and Stability Study Report (pdf) tonight which was prepared by Carve Systems. Dotless Domains are a big topic of conversation ever since Google announced it wanted to operate the new gTLD .search as a "Dotless Domain" The bottom line of the report is that technically Dotless domains are possible, but there are some issues which require … [Read more...]
First .Now Legal Rights Objection Rejected By WIPO
Another day another losing Legal Rights Objection (LRO) but the first case to be decided on the new gTLD .Now The Objector/Complainant Starbucks (HK) Limited of Hong Kong, China, lost the first of five objections it filed against all other applicants for .Now This case involved the applicant One.com A/S of Copenhagen, Denmark "In the Panel’s view “existing legal rights” means rights that … [Read more...]
UDRP Panel Rejects Attempt To Grab SM.Net
The complaint was brought by Fundación Santa María-Ediciones SM, against the domain holder M.A. Stenzel. The one member UDRP panel rejected complainant contention that they had trademark rights to the term "SM" "The Complainant holds numerous trademarks consisting in part of the letters “sm”. In particular, it holds US (n° 3702735) and Mexican (n° 933780) semi-figurative trademarks composed … [Read more...]
Walmart, Sony, CBS, Microsoft, Google, Disney Still Allowing TM Drop Domains To Be Grabbed By Others
As we have chatted about before, some of the biggest companies in the world which are quick to file a UDRP with filing fees at $1,500 a pop are allowing dropping domains to be registered by third parties rather than spending $10 to register the domains themselves. Most of the domains wind up parked or going to a registrar placeholder. These are not typo domain names. They are pretty bang … [Read more...]
Veterinarians.com Sold as Felix Upgrades Its Domain LocalVets.com
It appears the domain name Veterinarians.com has been sold to Felix, a leading local advertising company, which announced today that is has launched Veterinarians.com as "the directory of choice for connecting consumers with veterinary hospitals to schedule an appointment". Felix previously used the domain LocalVets.com, as the domain for the directory which "drives over 6,000 phone calls a … [Read more...]
If Google Wants To UDRP This Domain, They Will Have To Name Bill Gates
The domain name Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooogle.com has a most interesting whois record. The domain which was registered back in 2005 expired in December 2012. The domain name was re-registered fresh on July 9th, 2013 and look at who the whois is showing as the owner: Registrant: BILL GATES 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, California … [Read more...]
UDRP Panel Awards Bodvbuildinq.com To BodyBuilding.com Finding Common Law TM Right
A one member UDRP panel awarded Bodybuilding.com, LLC the domain name bodvbuildinq.com The interesting part of the case is that the panel found that Bodybuilding.com by virtue of the domain registration itself combined with the use of the domain over the 14 years, amount of traffic it received and the general success of the site, gave rise to common law trademark rights which the panel then … [Read more...]