Category: National Arbitration Forum

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Academy Award nominated actor Ryan O’Neal wins domain ryanoneal.com

Ryan O'Neal MugshotA single-member panel with the National Arbitration Forum has ordered the domain name ryanoneal.com be transferred to Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominated actor Ryan O’Neal.

Ryan O’Neal was represented by Howard H. Weller of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP,  who filed the dispute (Claim Number: FA1112001419531) against Ronald Garcia in early December 2011.

Ronald Garcia had owned the domain name since 2003 and recently had begun redirecting the web address to ronadgarcia.webstarts.com.

Sandra J. Franklin, Panelist,  found that all three elements required under the ICANN Policy to transfer the domains were satisfied, including registration and use in bad faith, stating that the offer to sell the domain name was evidence of bad faith registration.

Full details of the ruling, which was issued on January 5, have been posted online.

(Mugshot image of Ryan O’Neal via The Smoking Gun)

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Google wins dispute over YouTube typo domains, names ordered transferred

YouTube Scam Survey site

In a no-brainer, a single-member Panel with the National Arbitration Forum has ordered several YouTube typo domain names be transferred to Google.

The domain names disputed in the case were: youtbe.com, youtub.com, youtue.com, youube.com, and yutube.com.

The respondent, who filed no response in the proceeding, had been using the names to send unsuspecting users to a survey scam that asked a series of questions and attempted to gather personal information by promising free gifts like Best Buy gift cards.

Google filed the complaint (Case No. 1416796) at the end of November.

Judge Harold Kalina (Ret.), Panelist, found that all three elements required under the ICANN Policy to transfer the domains were satisfied.

1)  the domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and
(2)  Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
(3)  the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith

Full details of the ruling, which was issued on January 5, have been posted online.

Discussion: The Next Web, Marketing Land, Index, The Verge, Afterdawn.com and mediabistro

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

MGM Resorts going after typo domains following reversal of online poker policy

Mandalay Bay

According to reports, Nevada may become the first state in the U.S. to offer online gambling, this, following the Department of Justice’s policy reversal on the Wire Act.

Now MGM Resorts International, the Nevada based corporation that owns and operates over a dozen gaming properties in Nevada, has apparently filed a complaint (case number: 1422265) over the typo domains belaggio.com (correct spelling bellagio) and mandalabay.com (missing a ‘y’).

The case, which commenced today, was filed with the National Arbitration Forum.

According to WHOIS records for belaggio.com and mandalabay.com, both domains are owned by Modern Empire Internet Ltd, a Hong Kong based company that owns over 3,000 domains. 

The names are currently parked with Above.com, an internet company that offers parking services for domainers who want to maximize their parking revenues.

Modern Empire Internet Ltd has been the respondent in several domain disputes in the past, including cases that involved popular typos like wlmart.com and theknott.com, both of which it was ordered to transfer to the complainants.

Because the National Arbitration Forum doesn’t publicly identify complainants on its website until a decision has been issued by a panel, the official complainant isn’t immediately known.

But it’s safe to say MGM Resorts International is the complainant, as they own both mandalaybay.com and bellagio.com.

(Image of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino via MandalayBay.com)

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Actress Rose McGowan wants her name, files dispute for rosemcgowan.com

Rose Mcgowan

Actress and singer Rose McGowan has apparently filed a complaint (Case Number: 1419570) over the domain name RoseMcGowan.com with the National Arbitration Forum.

First registered over ten years ago, today, rosemcgowan.com is parked with HITFARM (part of the Reinvent Media Group), an online monetization service for domain names.   

The rosemcgowan.com website currently displays third-party ads, many having to do with her career, such as Netflix ads for the supernatural drama television series Charmed, which she is well-known for. 

The owner of the domain name is currently hidden behind WHOIS privacy, according to registrant records.

Because the National Arbitration Forum doesn’t publicly identify complainants on its website until a decision has been handed down by a panel, the official complainant isn’t immediately known.  As domain disputes usually go though, it’s all but guaranteed that Rose McGowan filed the complaint.

In the online world, Rose McGowan is an active Twitter user, with nearly 200,000 followers.  However, outside of fan pages and information on websites like IMDB, apparently she has no official site to call her own.

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Disputes Movies National Arbitration Forum News Trademarks Video Games

Following Sony Pictures, Ubisoft gets its own domain for Assassin’s Creed movie

Assassin's Creed the movie

Back in October, shortly after Variety broke the news that Sony Pictures was in the final negotiations with Ubisoft for an Assassin’s Creed film, I wrote about Sony Pictures registering more than a dozen related domains like assassinscreedfilm.com and assassinscreedthefilm.com.

There still is no official website for the film, which could be released as early as 2014, but now Ubisoft has secured ownership of the web address: assassinscreedthemovie.com.

The domain name exchanged hands earlier this week, after Ubisoft contacted the previous owner by e-mail and informed them that they had rights to the name.

Wanting to avoid legal troubles, the owner (whom I spoke with by e-mail) quickly transferred the domain to Ubisoft, saving Ubisoft the hassle of filing a domain dispute.

To date Ubisoft has filed only one complaint over a domain. 

In 2010, it won a case (Claim Number: FA0912001298869) for princeofpersia.com, after filing a dispute with the National Arbitration Forum.

Also this past week, Ubisoft Entertainment filed three separate trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Serial Number: 85482572, Serial Number: 85482583 and Serial Number: 85482580.

Here’s a quick look at the goods and services covered in the trademark filings.

“Entertainment services, namely, continuing television programs and interactive television programs featuring comedy, drama, live-action, and animation, broadcast over television, satellite, audio, and video media; presentation of live stage show performances, presentation of live show performances by costumed characters, and presentation of live theatrical performances; production and distribution of motion pictures”

“Audio and video recordings featuring live-action entertainment; audio and visual recordings featuring live-action entertainment; Pre-recorded DVDs, digital versatile discs and digital video discs featuring live-action entertainment”

“printed matter, namely books featuring works of fiction; printed matter, namely comics featuring works of fiction”

As of the time of this story going online, assassinscreedthemovie.com doesn’t resolve to a website.

(Photo of the short YouTube movie Assassin’s Creed: Lineage via Ubisoft)