Sonic Corporation, the American fast-bard restaurant chain, famous for its drive-in-diner style of service, is suing a company over its use of the domain mysonic.com. According to the lawsuit, Bright Orange Software Inc, registered the domain, a “well known trademark” of Sonic, and used it to redirect visitors to Burger …
June, 2009
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10 June
Pfizer wins domain dispute
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has scored a victory over a man from Bangladesh who registered the domains pfizer.org and celebrex.org. The WIPO, an international organization that hears domain disputes, ruled that the defendant, Samir Kumar, failed to prove that he did not register the domains in bad faith. Both names are …
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10 June
Concerns About New gTLDs as Cybersquatting Hits Record Levels
As the web gets larger and larger, it’s no surprise that intellectual property disputes are increasing. In 2008, a record 2,329 cybersquatting disputes were registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization. Celebrities, pharmaceutical companies, technology firms, and retail outlets were just a few groups who filed cases. Don’t expect the …
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8 June
'Typosquatters' cash in on user mistakes
According to the web security company McAfee, a new business phenomenon is sweeping the Internet, and like so many before it, the intentions are less than pure. Most have heard of cybersquatting, when an individual or business registers a domain that is identical or strikingly similar to the trademark of …
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5 June
ICANN Gets a Dressing Down from Congress
ICANN CEO Paul Twomey went to Congress today for a scheduled hearing on its performance and future relationship with the U.S. government. The non-profit organization received a battering of criticism from congressmen on a number of issues. Republican Cliff Stearns of Florida attacked ICANN for its $7 million surplus. He …
May, 2009
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29 May
Mel Gibson's Girlfriend Sues Host, Obama Names Deputy CTO
Today has been a busy day for news stateside. According to celebrity news website Thirty Mile Zone, Mel Gibson’s Russian girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, is suing her web host for cybersquatting. She claims that her host registered the domain OksanaGrigorieva.com and is using the site to spread lies about her. The …
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28 May
Google wins domain name case
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ordered an individual in India, Herit Shah, to turn over the rights of his domain name “googblog.com” to Google. The search engine and cloud computing giant had filed a complaint against Shah for holding a domain that infringes on the Google and Blogger trademarks, …
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21 May
Bank of America receives a split settlement in domain dispute
For cybersquatters, the recent Bank of America merger with Merrill Lynch was seen as a golden opportunity to snatch up some related domain names. One company, Webadviso, seized that opportunity, registering bofaml.com, mlbofa.com, bofamerrill.com, and merrillbofa.com. According to ICANN policy on domain name trademark disputes, the National Arbitration Forum heard …
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18 May
Is Domain Speculation Fair?
Since the early days of the web, enterprising individuals have been buying up and hoarding potentially valuable domains in droves. Called domain speculators, many associate these people with the gold miners of the old American West. EURid, the non-profit registry of the .eu TLD, estimates that as many as 50% …
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14 May
Blackberry maker RIM wins domain dispute against Indian firm
MumbaiDomains, a Mumbai-basd firm had previously registered three disputed domain names: blackbberry.com, bickberry.com, and bllackberry.com. Research In Motion, the company responsible for Blackberry smart phones, sued arguing that the domains are too close phonetically and in appearance to their trademark. “Save for the addition/deletion of a single letter, the disputed …