One of the more interesting objections filed at the International Centre for Dispute resolution (ICDR) based on String Confusion was Verisign's objection to the new gTLD .Cam being too confusing to .Com. Today a panel has ruled that .Cam is not confusing to .Com, finding "the visual similarity of the two strings does not allow a conclusion that confusion would result". "The test is not to … [Read more...]
USPTO: You Will Have To Contract WIth ICANN Before Applying For a Trademark For A New gTLD
Under the USPTO proposed examination guide, entitled “Applications for Marks Comprised of gTLDs for Domain Name Registration or Registry Services,” you will have to have a contract with ICANN to operate a new gTLD registry before you apply for a trademark for the gTLD: "The applicant must show that: (i) it has entered into a currently valid agreement with ICANN (a “Registry Agreement”) … [Read more...]
USPTO Opens Up Comment Period On Examation Guide For New gTLD’s Trademarks
The USPTO has just opened up a comment period for an Examination Guide on trademark applications for new gTLD's. The comment period closes on September 8th 2013 The examination guide is called "Applications for Marks Comprised of gTLDs for Domain Name Registration or Registry Services," and the USPTO is looking for "constructive input on examination guides before they are finalized, a draft … [Read more...]
Directv Beat Dish Network As Legal Rights Objection On New gTLD .Direct Is Upheld
The second Legal Right Objection been upheld by a three member WIPO panel this time by The DirecTV Group Inc. against its competitor Dish DBS The applied-for gTLD string .Direct. Directv did not apply for the new gTLD .Direct, but its main competitor Dish Network did and Directv filed this objection. The only other new gTLD application for .direct was filed by Half Trail, LLC a Donuts … [Read more...]
ICANN Opens Comment Period On Rights Protection Mechanism (RPM) Requirements
ICANN has opened the comment period for "Rights Protection Mechanism (RPM) Requirements" The operational requirements for implementation of the Sunrise and Trademark Claims processes in new gTLDs, and a set of community-proposed revisions, are being posted for comment to give an opportunity for the community to review and provide feedback on these requirements. This … [Read more...]
Breaking: WIPO Upholds 1st Legal Rights Objection On .Delmonte
A WIPO panel has just upheld its first Legal Rights Objection (LRO) after rejecting the first 29 cases it decided. A three member WIPO panel upheld the objection of the Del Monte Corporation of San Francisco to the new gTLD application for .Delmonte The case was decided by a majority with a dissenting opinion filed Here is the discussion of the panel: In order to prevail, the … [Read more...]
Lawsuits Don’t Scare Cybersquatters As Faceboko.com Sells On SnapNames For $1,516
Despite Facebook bringing federal lawsuits against Cybersquatters, they do not seem scared off as the domain name Faceboko.com sold yesterday on SnapNames.com for over $1,500. The domain name not surprisingly has has a traffic ranking from Alexa, Compete and Quantcast. The current parked page has some 40 links and all 40 links go to a Facebook related term (screenshot above) Facebook has … [Read more...]