February 28, 2005
February 26, 2005
Another first name prevails over a trademark
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February 24, 2005
Search-optimized domain portfolio sells for $164 million
Internet marketing firm Marchex Inc. has finalized a deal to pay a whopping $164.2 million for Name Development Ltd., which displays keyword advertising across a portfolio of more than 100,000 domains. The deal, along with the recent sale of a misspelled domain name for $112,000, offers evidence that mistyped URLs and other 'accidental traffic' have become big business.
[Netcraft]
[Netcraft]
February 23, 2005
Conflit sain
Les noms de domaine bio-attitude.net et bio-attitude.com ne constituent pas une antériorité rendant ces signes indisponibles pour un dépôt à titre de marque, leurs titulaires n'ayant pu justifier de l'antériorité, ni de l'enregistrement du premier, ni de l'exploitation effective du second, par rapport au signe contesté.Cour d'appel de Paris, 4ème ch., Sect. A, 15 septembre 2004, André M. et Gaëlle G. [qui tentaient de déposer la marque Bio-attitude] c/ Buon Huong T. [titulaire de la marque Biotitude] (PIBD n+ 800-III-54 - non disponible en ligne).
Merci Frédéric.
Bilfinguer.com
It doesn't happen often: Cancellation of a domain name in a dispute between Bilfinger Berger AG (Germany) and Bilfinguer S.A (Spain).
February 22, 2005
Peut-on être poursuivi pour négligence de ne pas interdire à un tiers l'usage de son nom sur internet ?
Le titre est long que l'espèce curieuse. M. Zwebner est régulièrement dénigré ou diffamé sur un forum par une personne qui utilise comme pseudo Wolfblitzzer0. Wolf Blitzer, c'est le nom de l'un des présentateurs vedette de CNN. Et cette chaîne, comme le présentateur, sont assignés en justice par Zwebner, pour leur carence à empêcher Wolfblitzzer0 d'utiliser le nom de Wolf Blitzer ("for failing to stop Wolfblitzzer0 from misappropriating Blitzer's name", selon la source).
Le gouvernement américain a demandé à Neustar, qui gère le .us, d'interdire les systèmes permettant de masquer l'identité réelle d'un contact dans une fiche Whois.
Plus sur Domaines.info.
Plus sur Domaines.info.
Word watch
A new name: Pornsquatting ("registering a Web site under a porn star's name without authorization"). Comes after cybersquatting, typosquatting, celebritysquatting, [add your -squatting name here].
Nueva publicación
Edel Bencomo, Cuba: El Registro Abusivo de Nombres de Dominio y su Influencia en la actividad comercial de las empresas cubanas, Alfa-Redi: Revista de Derecho Informático (ISSN 1681-5726), Número 40: Febrero 2005
Abstract: El registro abusivo de nombres de dominio es un fenómeno que sin lugar a dudas, entre otras cosas, ha llegado a perturbar el ambiente empresarial a nivel mundial. Esta práctica nociva ha sido empleada para obtener ganancias de la actividad registral de nombres de dominio, de forma ilícita, propiciando que la práctica registral se convierta en un impedimento para que las compañías mercantiles, propietarias de marcas reconocidas no puedan implementar sus estrategias de mercado en el espacio virtual. Cuba ha sido víctima de estas prácticas.
Abstract: El registro abusivo de nombres de dominio es un fenómeno que sin lugar a dudas, entre otras cosas, ha llegado a perturbar el ambiente empresarial a nivel mundial. Esta práctica nociva ha sido empleada para obtener ganancias de la actividad registral de nombres de dominio, de forma ilícita, propiciando que la práctica registral se convierta en un impedimento para que las compañías mercantiles, propietarias de marcas reconocidas no puedan implementar sus estrategias de mercado en el espacio virtual. Cuba ha sido víctima de estas prácticas.
"sucks" names strike back!
Trademark holdes have learnt from experience that they'd better register domain names corresponding not only with their sign, but to similar forms to avoid typosquatting. And some of them even register domain names such as theirtrademarksucks.com, solely to prevent others from doing it! (and it doesn't always work, as Verizon experienced).
Sucks means something in English, but not in French. It is then strange to discover that Wal Mart Stores registered the names sams-clubfrancesucks.fr and samsclubfrancesucks.fr.
Sucks means something in English, but not in French. It is then strange to discover that Wal Mart Stores registered the names sams-clubfrancesucks.fr and samsclubfrancesucks.fr.
Les noms de domaine en "sucks" sont de retour !
Pour éviter qu'ils soient enregistrés par des personnes malicieuses, des entreprises choisissent d'enregistrer elles-même leurs propres marques, accompagnées de sucks. Comme il s'agit d'un terme anglais, on le voyait plutôt accolé à des domaines génériques ou étrangers ; mais Wal Mart Stores vient d'innover, en enregistrant sams-clubfrancesucks.fr et samsclubfrancesucks.fr.
February 21, 2005
Domination's the name of the game
Their appeal decision will be closely looked at: Three panelists have to rule whether game.co.uk must be Game PLC's or Garth Sumpter's. The latter is a consultant for the games industry and has owned the domain since October 1995. He was using it to run a video-game-selling business. A first Nominet UK Dispute Resolution Service decision transferred the domain name to Game PLC. Mr Sumpter expects this decision to be reversed by the three experts that will know examine the case.
["Domination's the name of the game", taken from Depeche Mode's Master and Servant]
["Domination's the name of the game", taken from Depeche Mode's Master and Servant]
Un weblog construit autour d'un seul mot clé Google
Vu sur le blog de Loïc Le Meur : des blogs se construisent autour des Google AdWords qui rapportent le plus. Il paraît par exemple que le mot amiante vaudrait entre 15 et 100 $ le clic, mais la source est-elle fiable ?
Nouvelle décision du CRDD
Il y en a peu, alors pourquoi ne pas signaler une nouvelle décision du Centro Risoluzione Dispute Domìni : elle a été rendue le 15 février dernier, à propos du nom kose.it.
5 ans de résolution de litiges UDRP à l'O.M.P.I.
Depuis qu'il s'est vu confier le premier conflit UDRP, relatif au nom de domaine worldwrestlingfederation.com, le Centre d’arbitrage et de médiation de l'O.M.P.I. a traité plus de 7000 litiges mettant en présence des parties provenant de 124 pays et portant sur plus de 12 500 noms de domaine depuis l’entrée en vigueur. Parmi les principaux utilisateurs des principes UDRP, on trouve l’industrie du spectacle, des entreprises pharmaceutiques, des sociétés d’informatique et un grand nombre de petites et moyennes entreprises qui privilégient les principes UDRP par rapport à l’action en justice traditionnelle, considérant qu’ils constituent un moyen beaucoup plus rapide et meilleur marché de protéger les droits attachés à leurs marques contre le cybersquatt. La plupart des litiges portent sur des noms de domaine internationaux, plus de 80% des noms en cause ayant été enregistrés en .com.
Plus d'infos chiffrées dans le communiqué de presse du 18 février 2005.
Plus d'infos chiffrées dans le communiqué de presse du 18 février 2005.
WIPO and cybersquatting: A 5 years story
WIPO CONTINUES EFFORTS TO CURB CYBERSQUATTING
WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Center has handled a total of over 7,000 disputes, involving parties from 124 countries and covering over 12,500 domain names since the UDRP went into effect in December 1999. Frequent users of the UDRP include the entertainment industry, pharmaceutical companies, IT firms and a significant number of small-to-medium-sized businesses who favor the UDRP over traditional litigation considering it to be a far quicker and cheaper way of protecting their trademark rights against cybersquatting.
Most disputes concern international domains, with .com representing over 80% of names involved.
More facts: WIPO Press release, Feb. 18, 2005.
WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Center has handled a total of over 7,000 disputes, involving parties from 124 countries and covering over 12,500 domain names since the UDRP went into effect in December 1999. Frequent users of the UDRP include the entertainment industry, pharmaceutical companies, IT firms and a significant number of small-to-medium-sized businesses who favor the UDRP over traditional litigation considering it to be a far quicker and cheaper way of protecting their trademark rights against cybersquatting.
Most disputes concern international domains, with .com representing over 80% of names involved.
More facts: WIPO Press release, Feb. 18, 2005.
February 10, 2005
You've got a domain name
An amazing NAF decision: AOL complained about the registration of youvegotg-mail.com. The respondent was not heard when he argued that the term “youvegotg-mail” is a play on words derived from “common and widely used vernacular” and that it “relates specifically to our product concept.”
Gmail is also a sign used by Google for its e-mail service. Interestingly, AOL's trademarks have already been involved in disputes regarding domain names combining two trademarks owned by different persons, like aol-microsoft.com or aol-sony.com (see NAF, Feb. 1, 2002; WIPO, D2002-0485, Jul. 30, 2002).
Gmail is also a sign used by Google for its e-mail service. Interestingly, AOL's trademarks have already been involved in disputes regarding domain names combining two trademarks owned by different persons, like aol-microsoft.com or aol-sony.com (see NAF, Feb. 1, 2002; WIPO, D2002-0485, Jul. 30, 2002).
New decision in favor of a celebrity
Charo Rasten brought a UDRP action against the registrant of charo.com, claiming that the domain name was identical to Complainant’s mark. Complainant, an internationally known singer, comedienne, dancer, actress and classical guitarist, asserted that she had been known continuously and extensively as Charo for approximately 35 years, had made numerous television and film appearances, and had several gold and platinum albums to her credit. Thus, although Complainant had neither registered the mark nor filed for registration, the Panel found that Complainant had acquired common law rights in the mark by establishing secondary meaning and transferred the disputed domain name to Complainant. Rasten v. URLPro, 384835 - Nat. Arb. Forum Feb. 2, 2005.
Battle for the .fk zone
As The Register reports, the re-delegation of the .fk didn't go smoothly... Another clue of the political importance of the ccTLDs.
February 07, 2005
Décision Vuitton c/ Google
Les décisions françaises s'accumulent contre Google France : la société vient de nouveau de perdre dans un conflit qui l'opposait à la société Louis Vuitton Malletier. Fondée sur le droit des marques, cette décision (susceptible d'appel) l'est aussi, de façon intéressante, sur le droit de la consommation. Plus précisément, les juges ont considéré que le délit de publicité mensongère était constitué :
Dit qu’en faisant apparaître sous sa rubrique « liens commerciaux » des messages publicitaires de sites qui non seulement sont sans relation commerciale avec le site de la société LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER mais encore utilisent les signes VUITTON pour promouvoir des produits qui « s’inspirent » de ceux de la société LOUIS VUITTON MALLETIER, les sociétés GOOGLE Inc. et GOOGLE FRANCE ont réalisé une présentation de publicité de nature à induire en erreur les internautes sur les origines et les qualités substantielles des biens ainsi proposés.La décision peut-être lue sur Juriscom.net, qui l'a publié avec sa réactivité habituelle.
".at" the right place
In December 2004 the Hamburg Landgericht ruled (324 O 375/04 - decision subject to appeal) that the country-code top level domain (ccTLD) .at, which is assigned by the Austrian registrar Nic.at GmbH, has no direct reference to Austria.
The case was brought to the court after an Austrian company Sartorius GmbH sued German citizen Mr Sartorius for the deletion of the domain name sartorius.at. Aside from the discussion on the litigants' rights, the court ruled that "the fact that the defendant registered and used the domain without residing in or doing business in Austria was not seen as sufficient reason to grant deletion of the disputed domain name. It is undisputed that Nic.at allows the registration of .at domains irrespective of whether the applicant has a seat or residence in Austria. The court also stated that ccTLDs do not possess sufficient distinction. Internet users do not necessarily expect a reference or connection to Austria when opening an internet site with an .at TLD. Finally, the court referred to the common practice of using certain ccTLDs not as a geographic reference, but rather as continuation of a name (usually company names). Prominent examples quoted by the court include the ccTLDs .ag, which is used as the geographic reference to Antigua or Barbuda (AG being the German abbreviation for 'Aktiengesellschaft', which means 'stock company') and .tv, which is used as the geographic reference to Tuvalu (TV being short for 'television' and thus referring to businesses related to television, radio and the general media). [From Preslmayr Attorneys at Law, written for International Law Office]
The case was brought to the court after an Austrian company Sartorius GmbH sued German citizen Mr Sartorius for the deletion of the domain name sartorius.at. Aside from the discussion on the litigants' rights, the court ruled that "the fact that the defendant registered and used the domain without residing in or doing business in Austria was not seen as sufficient reason to grant deletion of the disputed domain name. It is undisputed that Nic.at allows the registration of .at domains irrespective of whether the applicant has a seat or residence in Austria. The court also stated that ccTLDs do not possess sufficient distinction. Internet users do not necessarily expect a reference or connection to Austria when opening an internet site with an .at TLD. Finally, the court referred to the common practice of using certain ccTLDs not as a geographic reference, but rather as continuation of a name (usually company names). Prominent examples quoted by the court include the ccTLDs .ag, which is used as the geographic reference to Antigua or Barbuda (AG being the German abbreviation for 'Aktiengesellschaft', which means 'stock company') and .tv, which is used as the geographic reference to Tuvalu (TV being short for 'television' and thus referring to businesses related to television, radio and the general media). [From Preslmayr Attorneys at Law, written for International Law Office]
David contre Goliath !
C'est en ces termes qu'un article italien décrit l'affaire Milka contre Mme Milka B. (voir par ailleurs sur ce blog)... L'effet du recul ?
"mess.com"
The arbiters refused to transfer mess.com to Mess Enterprises... but the WIPO decision is not a mess!
February 02, 2005
«Le .fr est ouvert aux étrangers. Mais [nous] demandons qu'il y ait un lien avec la France pour s'assurer qu'en cas de litige, une juridiction française sera bien compétente».Marine Chantreau, responsable de communication de l'AFNIC, interrogée par ZDNet.fr.
Entrepreneurs Magazine harasses entrepreneurs' domains
Spotted on ICANNWatch: "Entrepreneur magazine claims that ALL entrepreneur-related domain names violate their trademark rights. A New-York Times article accuses Entrepreneur Magazine of "playing hardball to stop entrepreneurs from using the word entrepreneur. Additional information about this subject is available at Entrepreneur.net, a website of just one of the small businesses that Entrepreneur magazine has attacked just for using the word "entrepreneur."
Google now a registrar: read in the press
"Google is a pure-play Internet company, and ICANN is an important
creature in terms of Internet government," said Elliot Noss, chief of
Tucows. "It likely wants to understand it better." (CNET News)
"One idea is that it has to do with Google's AdSense for Domains business, which aims at the domain name industry. Google's technology "understands the meaning" of domain names, the company says, and then ties it in with search terms that people type in its search engines" (The Register).
creature in terms of Internet government," said Elliot Noss, chief of
Tucows. "It likely wants to understand it better." (CNET News)
"One idea is that it has to do with Google's AdSense for Domains business, which aims at the domain name industry. Google's technology "understands the meaning" of domain names, the company says, and then ties it in with search terms that people type in its search engines" (The Register).
Le futur de la gestion du ".ma"
Dans le cadre de l’analyse des potentialités de développement de l’Internet au Maroc, l’Agence Nationale de Réglementation des Télécommunications a lancé une consultation pour recueillir des avis au sujet de la
problématique de gestion du domaine .ma. Cette consultation (dont l'échéance est le 16 février prochain) peut être lue ici.
problématique de gestion du domaine .ma. Cette consultation (dont l'échéance est le 16 février prochain) peut être lue ici.
February 01, 2005
Allez chercher votre nouveau nom de domaine... chez Google !
La boulimie de Google ne s'arrête plus ! Si ça continue, la société proposera bientôt toute la panoplie des services en ligne (à quand la G-monnaie électronique ?). Google vient en effet de rejoindre le rang des registrars agréés par l'ICANN, et vend donc du nom de domaine... (l'info a été publiée entre autres sur Zorgloob).
Selon certains observateurs, ce nouveau positionnement viserait à compléter l'offre faites aux utilisateurs de la plateforme Blogger, pour leur permettre de choisir un nom de blog qui ne soit pas monblogamoi.blogspot.com.
Sur le (juste) choix du nom d'un blog, voir aussi ici.
Selon certains observateurs, ce nouveau positionnement viserait à compléter l'offre faites aux utilisateurs de la plateforme Blogger, pour leur permettre de choisir un nom de blog qui ne soit pas monblogamoi.blogspot.com.
Sur le (juste) choix du nom d'un blog, voir aussi ici.
Google is also a registrar
Bret (LexText) saw it first: Google is now an ICANN-accredited registrar. What for?
According to Netcraft News, this new status "is likely to prompt speculation about its ambitions in web hosting and blogging. Google operates Blogger, the free blog hosting service with a huge user base. Cheap or free domain names could prove useful to Google in the notoriously price-sensitive blog hosting sector, where most bloggers use subdomains (i.e. myblog.bloghost.com) rather than full domain names (www.myblog.com)."
According to Netcraft News, this new status "is likely to prompt speculation about its ambitions in web hosting and blogging. Google operates Blogger, the free blog hosting service with a huge user base. Cheap or free domain names could prove useful to Google in the notoriously price-sensitive blog hosting sector, where most bloggers use subdomains (i.e. myblog.bloghost.com) rather than full domain names (www.myblog.com)."
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