New domain name dispute news section
Welcome to the new domain name dispute news section of our site. Please read on for summaries of recent Nominet UK domain name dispute appeal decisions.
barrisol.co.uk (2009): Just because a distributor is allowed to register a domain name, doesn't mean that it gets to keep it.
A distributor of Barrisol-branded products was allowed to register and use the domain name barrisol.co.uk. The distribution agreement terminated. The distributor's use of the disputed domain name thereafter was an abusive registration and the Nominet domain name appeal panel ordered transfer to the trade mark owner.
Read the full barrisol.co.uk domain name dispute summary
whistleblower.co.uk (2009): Complainant fails to prove that registrant of domain name had sufficient knowledge of it or its rights
A new agency service registered the domain name whistleblower.co.uk. Two companies with prior registered trade marks for WHISTLE BLOWER failed to obtain transfer of the domain name, despite evidence that the registrant set out to deceive the Nominet expert. A Nominet domain name appeal panel held that the complainants did not demonstrate that the registrant was likely to be aware of the complainants or their trade marks.
Read the full whistleblower.co.uk domain name dispute summary
firstrung.co.uk (2009): "The mere fact that confusion has occurred and is likely to occur is not enough."
The registrant registered the domain in dispute firstrung.co.uk but did nothing with it. The complainant, who in the meantime had launched a significant business at FirstRungNow.com, failed to show that the registrant's later use of firstrung.co.uk involved any wrongdoing albeit that there was much customer confusion between the two businesses, which both offered online advice to new entrants to the UK property market.
Read the full firstrung.co.uk domain name dispute summary
oasis.co.uk (2009): Oasis loses despite use of domain name for sponsored fashion links.
Seemed like a routine Nominet UK domain recovery case? Oasis is a UK high street women's clothing chain, trading since 1991. Mr Dale acquired oasis.co.uk in 2006. The domain was later used for sponsored links to women's fashion websites. Yet Oasis lost. Why? This recent appeal decision illustrates some of the dangers for trade mark owners which lurk in the Nominet UK domain name dispute recovery process.
Read the full oasis.co.uk domain recovery case summary
rayden-engineering.co.uk (2009): Use of trade mark for protest or criticism website was abusive as it amounted to impersonation of the Complainant.
The registrant had a grievance against a company called Rayden Engineering. She set up a criticism site using Rayden's name as a domain name. Rayden won the case as the domain name was identical to Rayden's trade mark and effectively amounted to impersonation. The registrant would have won if she has used a domain name which made clear that it was registered for a protest / criticism website.
Read the full rayden-engineering.co.uk domain name dispute summary
t-home.co.uk (2009): Registrants who offer to sell domain names to trade mark owners for vast sums of money are not necessarily cybersquatters.
The registrant registered t-home.co.uk before Deutsche Telekom acquired trade mark rights in that name. Under threat of litigation, the registrant, who had previously sold the domain name t-email.co.uk to Deutsche Telecom for €100,000, offered to sell t-home.co.uk it to Deutsche Telecom for €200,000. Deutsche Telcom lost its case for recovery of that domain name both in the initial decision and on appeal.
Read the full t-home.co.uk domain name dispute summary
greengiant.co.uk (2008): A lack of a plausible explanation for registration of a domain name was fatal for the registrant.
Another.com registered greengiant.co.uk. It claimed not to have received the original complaint under Nominet's Dispute Service. However, it did receive the decision and appealed but lost as the domain name reflected a distinctive and well-known brand and the appeal panel considered the registrant's explanation for registering the domain name to be implausible.
Read the full greengiant.co.uk domain name dispute summary
myspace.co.uk (2008): MySpace fails to recover myspace.co.uk despite its use for social networking links.
The domain name in dispute myspace.co.uk had been registered years before the MySpace business started. MySpace lost a Nominet appeal, despite the domain's use for sponsored social networking links, as these were entirely automated and there was no evidence that the registrant had actively exploited MySpace's trade mark.
Read the full myspace.co.uk domain name dispute summary
wiseinsurance.co.uk (2008): A descriptive domain name was found not to be an abusive registration.
The registrant acquired wiseinsurance.co.uk as part of a series of financial "wise-" prefixed domain names and used it for sponsored insurance links. Given the descriptiveness of the name and the complainant's lack of an extensive reputation, the risk of customer confusion was low and the complainant could not complain about the use of the same descriptive name by the registrant.
Read the full wiseinsurance.co.uk domain name dispute summary
maestro.co.uk (2007): Convincing evidence is needed to show that a domain name consisting of a single generic word is abusive.
Mastercard's subsidiary Maestro failed to recover maestro.co.uk. The domain name consisted of single dictionary word and the registrant's knowledge of Maestro's trade mark wasn't of itself sufficient to constitute abusive registration. Nor was the domain name in dispute part of the pattern of other of the registrant's domain names which comprised third party trade marks.
Read the full maestro.co.uk domain name dispute summary
For a free initial chat and more information about our domain name legal advice and services, call Adam Taylor of Adlex Solicitors on +44 (0) 207 317 8404 or email.