A little over a week ago, Microsoft filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) over the domain names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net. The company, it seems, held off on registering or acquiring any Xbox One related domains until after the announcement of its next-generation Xbox, so as not to reveal the name of the new system.
Now, with the news in from Microsoft, the company is having to go the legal route to get domain names related to the Xbox One.
A new dispute (Case Number: 1501169) has been brought against the owner of Xbox1.com (WHOIS).
It’s unknown whether Microsoft offered cash and was turned down, or, if the company demanded the names before filing complaints.
While nothing is guaranteed in a domain dispute, Microsoft has a good track record with Xbox names and has won dozens of disputes ranging from Xbox Gold to Xbox Fitness. In fact, it appears the company has never lost a complaint. Either the domain names have been ordered transferred by a panel or the complaints were withdrawn after the names were handed over before a decision.
Microsoft isn’t the only video game console maker that doesn’t own the matching domain to its system.
In February, Nintendo filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization over the domain name Wiiu.com. No ruling has been issued yet.
Sony doesn’t own Playstation4.com, nor has the company filed any kind of dispute. As I wrote back in 2011, Playstation4.com re-directs to PSX Extreme, a video game website that has been covering Sony Playstation news for years. In 2001, Sony filed a dispute over sonyplaystation2.com, playstationx.com and sonyps2.com, and won.
Talking about this story: VG247, JeuxVideo.com, Neowin.net and melty.fr
UPDATE 2 July 23, 2013: Microsoft has taken ownership of Xbox1.com, according to the latest WHOIS records. The case was withdrawn from NAF.
UPDATE 1 June 5, 2013: Microsoft filed another complaint (Case Number: 1503080) over the domains xboxone.co, xboxone.me, xboxoneforum.net, xboxonewiki.com, xboxonehelp.com, xboxonecheat.com and xboxoneblog.com.
(Image of Xbox One via Xbox.com)