Disney, Coke win domain domain disputes

Two large companies, Disney and Coca-Cola, have won domain disputes this week.

Disney won the names diseny.com and dsiney.com after filing a trademark complaint with the National Arbitration Forum. The registration of these names clearly constitutes typosquatting. Because the owner did not want to take part in the proceedings, Disney won.

Coca-Cola also won cokerewards2009.com after filing a dispute with the WIPO. The beverage company claims the registrant was using the name in bad faith to impersonate Coke and collect personal information from customers.

Disney wins disneycondo.com

Entertainment and resort company Disney has won a dispute over the domain disneycondo.com. In a dispute the corporation filed with the National Arbitration Forum, it claimed the name violated its trademark on the term “Disney.”

Although famous for its movies, Disney has a major stake in the vacation industry so it’s no surprise that it would want the name. Naturally, the NAF ruled in favour of the company. The registrant did not respond to the dispute, so coming to a decision must have been very easy for the panel.

Source | Domain News

Disney wins domain dispute, but was it worth the effort?

Disney recently filed a complaint over the domain dealsdisney.info with the National Arbitration Forum. Arguing that the domain infringed on its trademark, the company won the case. But was it really worth the time and effort?

Disney spent thousands of pounds in arbitration fees and employee time for a domain that costs as little as 3 pounds per year to own. While there are certainly cases where it would make sense to gain control of a trademark-infringing domain– say if it were causing large financial losses or ruining the firm’s reputation– what good is dealsdisney.info going to do for Disney?

My guess is the domain was automatically registered by a bot and parked. Few, if anyone, probably ever visited it. The name was causing no financial loss to Disney. The company acquired it simply because it could.

Often times many instances of trademark infringement are not pursued because the cost of doing so is far greater than the benefits. In this case, it looks like Disney made a foolish decision. Companies do have to enforce their trademarks in order to maintain them, but my guess is no one would dispute Disney’s trademark if it turned a blind eye to a .info domain or two.