.cat is live

ICANNWatch reports.

ICANN seeks an in-house counsel for contract law matters

Of possible interest for readers of this blog. The job is based in Brussels. Announcement here.

"Staggernation"

This website has collected so many bad faith defense arguments in WIPO disputes that it is unable to decide what is the most dubious!
Examples (no comment...):

Respondent asserts that his fiancée was Chanel Louise Wright, and they together at one time also had an e-commerce business...
Respondent states that he and his girlfriend/fiancée Chanel "narrowed it (the choice of original title of our business) down to the following three choices:
a) chanelbags.com
b) chanelpurses.com
c) wholesalepurses.com
"Chanel and I used wholesalepurses.com because of the fact that Chanel and I broke off our wedding engagement and I did not want her name on my business, which I was now solely operating."

or

"Respondent has rights in the abbreviation P.E.P.S.I. through his ownership of the registered company Precise Electronic Positioning Systems International, Inc."

eBay / Perfume Bay

An American Court allowed Perfume Bay to continue using perfumebay.com (pending final decision by the Appellate Court).
According to the report, "[t]he judge had found no actual confusion between the trademarks Perfume Bay and eBay or any dilution of the eBay mark by Perfume Bay under federal or state law, and no breach of settlement agreement by Perfume Bay. Further, the judge found that Perfume Bay had no intent to infringe on eBay's trademark and that the company is entitled to continue using its name, logo and slogan "Where perfume lovers go."

Ed Hasbrouck calls for an independant review of ICANN procedures.

Domain name news

gathered at Nameprotect:

1. Does the Length of Your Domain Registration Affect Your Search Engine Rankings
2. EasyGroup refused entry to easyhotel.ch
3. A federal court has upheld a UDRP ruling that a former Utah Internet entrepreneur improperly registered Web sites using a Provo mall's name. In 1997 Rasmussen registerd provotownecentre.com. In 2003, he posted on his shopping website a notice that it "has no relation to a shopping mall in Provo currently named Provo Towne Centre." A WIPO panel ruled Rasmussen had acted in bad faith, and ordered the sites turned over to the mall's owners.

domain names

ADR Center for .eu disputes launches its official website

The official website of the ADR Center for .eu disputes is now available.
On this website, you may find a description of the procedure, the rules, forms, and other relevant documents, and the names of the 86 panelists.

[UPDATE 12.30.05] Two new panelists joined the list.

Lancement du site de la Czech Arbitration Court

Annoncé, le site de la Czech Arbitration Court, prestataire retenu pour assurer la résolution des litiges relatifs aux noms de domaine en .eu, a été lancé.
Le Centre a ainsi rendu publique la liste des 86 panélistes sélectionnés. Pour la France, ont été retenus : Mmes Nathalie Dreyfus, Marie-Emmanuelle Haas, Isabelle Leroux, et Messieurs William Lobelson, Frédéric Sardain, David Irving Tayer, David Taylor, et Cédric Manara. Pour la Belgique : Didier Deneuter, Tom Joris Jan Heremans, Flip Jan Claude Petillion, Paul Van Den Bulck, Joost Verbeek, Thibault Verbiest, Ignace Vernimme, Etienne Wery.

[Mise à jour - 30.10.05] Le Centre s'est agrandi de deux nouveaux panélistes.
[Mise à jour - 18.01.06] Jean Albert et Alexandre Nappey rejoignent le "corps" des experts de nationalité française.

Echo

For readers who understand French: Domaines.info interviewed me on ADR for .eu related disputes.

And when is the instant registration for?

Google Blogoscoped spotted this domain name tool: With Instant Domain Search, as you type a word you know if it is available for registration. This might be for those who are really in a rush!