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iPad3.com domain quickly turned over to Apple’s IP lawyers following complaint

iPad3

The domain iPad3.com is now in the hands of Apple’s IP lawyers at Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.  It appears the previous name’s owner didn’t even want to wait for an arbitration panel to issue the inevitable decision, and has instead decided to quickly transfer the domain following a complaint that was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at the end of June.

In the last 24 hours, the Whois record for iPad3.com was updated to reflect the change in ownership from Global Access to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, a law firm that has represented the company in several patent and trademark infringement cases.

Given the speed of the domain transfer from the time the dispute was filed until now, it’s safe to assume a WIPO panel hadn’t even issued a ruling for Case Number D2012-1319, as the entire process can takes weeks and months.  The case will end up being terminated, just as the cases for iPhone5.com and UsedMacs.com were terminated.

Ultimately, the next step is for the name to be transferred from Apple’s lawyers to Apple, as it was likely bleeding traffic when people typed www.ipad3.com into their web browser looking for “The new iPad” only to find themselves on a parked page filled with links.

Chances are Apple will not change a thing when it comes to marketing “The new iPad” and will simply forward the name to its iPad page on Apple.com.

At the time of this story, iPad3.com still redirects to a variety of different parking services with Above.com.

[UPDATE 3 July 12:. Apple has begun forwarding iPad3.com to its web site. DNW reports Apple is tracking the traffic it gets from this domain using a tracking code.]

[UPDATE 2 July 6:. Case Number D2012-1319 has now been terminated at WIPO.]

[UPDATE 1 July 5:. iPad3.com has been transferred from Above.com’s name servers to Apple’s name servers.]

Talking about this story:  TechmemeThe Next Web, CNET, PC Magazine, GameZone, Macworld UK, Australian Macworld, SlashGear, GMA News, MacRumors, Network World, iDownloadblog.com, ITProPortal, Marketing Land, WebProNews, mediabistro.com, 36kr.com, maclife.de, iJailbreak.com, Memeburn and ZDNet

(Image of the new iPad via Apple.com)

6 replies on “iPad3.com domain quickly turned over to Apple’s IP lawyers following complaint”

So… Why didnt Apple already own ipad3.com ?  Well, It’s because they dont have to.  They can actually just do nothing… If anyone else DARES to buy it… Apple just pounce!  And say “You’ve done the hard bit, you know buying the name, building it up in to something… and now we’ll just have it. No “ThankYou’s” No nothing, just seeya later!  Apple would Sh*t on anyone just to flex their muscles. 

This was always going to happen.

There is a reason you shouldn’t register a domain like this. If it contains a trademark, don’t bother. I’m sick of saying it and wish people would learn!

Imagine if you had a new product trademarked and somebody went and registered and EMD.com. Bet you would be over to WIPO in a flash. So don’t bash Apple for doing just that.

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