UDRP Panelist Orders Microsoft, Sony Names Transferred.... to AOL?
Never underestimate the curious motivations of some domain registrants. In NAF Case No. 102525, the domain names aol-sony.com, aol-msn.com, microsoft-aol.com, and aol-microsoft.com were transferred to AOL, apparently without asking Sony or Microsoft.
To be sure, someone who registers those domain names and connects them with porn sites is not firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, merely because one has a hammer is a poor excuse to treat every problem as if it were a nail. AOL and MSN are direct competitors, and now AOL has obtained several domain names directly incorporating Microsoft's trademarks. That sort of situation clearly does not fit the UDRP's threshold requirement of a domain name which is similar or identical to a trademark in which the complainant has rights. AOL most certainly does not have rights in the terms MSN, Microsoft, or Sony.
This sort of mix-and-match cybersquatting had come up in a prior UDRP case involving the domain name "attviacom.com". In that situation, however, AT&T and Viacom filed as joint complainants, since they recognized that neither one alone would have the requisite rights to the combination domain name. Being too bright by half, however, they requested cancellation of the domain name, which was immediately registered by yet another brain damaged registrant.
Anyone game for aol-kodak-disney-xerox-nokia.com?
Never underestimate the curious motivations of some domain registrants. In NAF Case No. 102525, the domain names aol-sony.com, aol-msn.com, microsoft-aol.com, and aol-microsoft.com were transferred to AOL, apparently without asking Sony or Microsoft.
To be sure, someone who registers those domain names and connects them with porn sites is not firing on all cylinders. On the other hand, merely because one has a hammer is a poor excuse to treat every problem as if it were a nail. AOL and MSN are direct competitors, and now AOL has obtained several domain names directly incorporating Microsoft's trademarks. That sort of situation clearly does not fit the UDRP's threshold requirement of a domain name which is similar or identical to a trademark in which the complainant has rights. AOL most certainly does not have rights in the terms MSN, Microsoft, or Sony.
This sort of mix-and-match cybersquatting had come up in a prior UDRP case involving the domain name "attviacom.com". In that situation, however, AT&T and Viacom filed as joint complainants, since they recognized that neither one alone would have the requisite rights to the combination domain name. Being too bright by half, however, they requested cancellation of the domain name, which was immediately registered by yet another brain damaged registrant.
Anyone game for aol-kodak-disney-xerox-nokia.com?
