The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has just ruled that there is No Such Thing As Contributory Cybersquatting Under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). The case is PETROLIAM NASIONAL, Plaintiff-counter-claim-defendant, Appellant, v.GODADDY.COM, INC.Defendant-counter-claimant, Appellee., No. 12-15584 D.C. No. 4:09-cv-05939- PJH The case is an appeal from the United States … [Read more...]
Google Sued For Trademark Infringement Over Its Hangout Service By Hanginout Damages & Retraining Order Requested
Hanginout, Inc. which describes itself as a San Diego based technology company filed suit against Google this morning over its "hangout" service for trademark infringement, federal unfair competition, and common law unfair competition. In addition to damages Hanginout is asking a judge to grant a temporary, preliminary and permanent restraining order against Google to prevent them from using … [Read more...]
Federal Judge Rules Domain Names Are Not Property Under Virgina Law
A Virgina federal judge has ruled that domain names are not property under Virgina Law. The case is ALEXANDRIA SURVEYS, LLC, , v. ALEXANDRIA CONSULTING GROUP, LLC, (ACG) Civil Action No. 1:13-CV-00891, United States District Court, E.D. Virginia, Alexandria Division and was handed down by District Judge LIAM O'GRADY The case was an appeal from a Bankruptcy court decision, which involved a … [Read more...]
Troubling: Federal Court Gives ShareTv.com To ShareTv.Org Despite .Com Registered 3 Years Earlier & 7 Years Before TM
In a troubling development for all domain investors, The United States District Court for the Eastern District Of Virginia has awarded the domain name Sharetv.com to the owner of ShareTv.org under a lawsuit brought under the Lanham Act and Virginia's Unfair Competition Act. (Case No. 1:13-cv-00506, Dkt No. 1) Although ShareTv.org had a federally registered trademark on the term ShareTV, the … [Read more...]
Guest Post: Newcomer Stymied By ICANN and ICC’s Process
This is a guest post by Christopher R Barron, who is the Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of GOProud. "GOProud is a national organization of gay and straight Americans who seek to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights. We work on the federal … [Read more...]
CADNA Calls On Congress To Increase Cybersquatting Penalties Under The ACPA & Include Registrars/Registries
The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) posted a story on its site, written by Warren Communications News, Inc., which quotes Josh Bourne Director of CADNA: "The problem of cybersquatting is going to "explode by at least 2,500 percent when new gTLDs go live" "CADNA will start a letter-writing campaign and continue to seek a sponsor for a revision to 1999's Anticybersquatting … [Read more...]
Uniregistry Beats Back Google’s Objection To .Cars: Different Decisions On The Same String Is ICANN’s Problem
Uniregistry, Corp just beat back an objection from Google's Charleston Road Registry (CRR) Inc. on the new gTLD .cars in a decision handed down by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution ("ICDR") CRR objected to Unregistry application for .cars as on the basis of String Confusion to its own application for .car and wanted the two applications to be placed into the same contention set … [Read more...]