Category: National Arbitration Forum

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Warner Bros. Entertainment wins dispute over ThunderCats.com domain name

ThunderCats Cartoon Network

With the return of ThunderCats back to television, the domain name ThunderCats.com has been ordered transferred to Warner Bros. by a single member panel of the National Arbitration Forum.

The respondent in the domain dispute was Equity LLC / Name Admin of New York.

On the point of “Registration and Use in Bad Faith”, although the Honorable Charles K. McCotter, Jr. (Ret.) who served as the panelist did not find that Equity LLC had ever attempted to sell the disputed domain name, McCotter did find that the domain had a competing nature because Equity LLC had posted links to websites and businesses which sell action figure goods in competition with Warner Bros.

Of course, there is much more to the decision than just the point of “bad faith”.

You can read all the gory details of the decision through the information published online here.

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Trademarks Video Games

ModernWarfare3.com domain name battle ends with an Activision triumph

Modern Warfare 3

Modern Warfare 3

The domain battle between Anthony Abraham and Activision over ModernWarfare3.com has come to an end.

A three-member panel of the National Arbitration Forum has ordered the domain name transferred.

Earlier this year Anthony Abraham launched an unofficial fan site for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, attracting thousands of Facebook fans in a matter of days.

In late June, Abraham began lashing out at Activision, the publisher of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, in a series of statements and videos that appeared on the ModernWarfare3.com website, and throwing support instead to Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3.

Activision eventually filed a complaint (read here) which revealed the identity of the Battlefield 3 fanboy.

According to the decision posted online, Abraham argued that the term “modern warfare” is generic and is not monopolized by Activision.

Activision was required to prove that modernwarfare3.com is identical or confusingly similar to its trademark, that Abraham has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain; and the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

The three-member panel ruled in Activision’s favor today, having established all three elements required under the ICANN Policy.

Here is a copy of the decision by the National Arbitration Forum so you can read all the details.

Discussion: Game Informer, Joystiq, NeoGAF, CVG, GamesIndustry.biz, MCV, Ubergizmo, The Escapist, G4, Eurogamer.net, 1UP, Tiscali, Gamespot, FZ, Kotaku and Gaming Union

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Lady Gaga wants the domain name rights to LadyGaga.org, files complaint

Lady Gaga

Pop singer-songwriter Lady Gaga who topped Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 list as the most powerful celebrity is going to battle over the web address ladygaga.org, according to a recent complaint filed with the National Arbitration Forum.

Not only has Lady Gaga mastered the music scene, but she’s dominated the web and social media scene, and has more Twitter followers than anyone else in the world (at the time of this posting, 12,886,773 followers on @LadyGaga).  

Though Lady Gaga works on behalf of non-profit organizations and donates money, she may be planning her own official non-profit organization.  Because of all her philanthropy, it comes as no surprise that a domain dispute has been filed for the .org web address, a domain that’s intended for non-profit organizations.

The domain dispute (case No. 1403808) has been filed with the National Arbitration Forum. 

Lady Gaga domain dispute

Because the National Arbitration Forum doesn’t publicly identify complainants on its website until a decision has been reached, the official complainant isn’t known at this time, but it’s safe to say it’s either Lady Gaga or her production team, Mermaid Music LLC, which is the registrant of LadyGaga.com.

The dispute which has been filed against oranges arecool XD (the current registrant), may be an open and shut case for the NAF panel.

As I wrote about back in early June, oranges arecool XD owns and operates other celebrity domains and websites including blakelively.com, jennifer-hudson.com, beyoncegallery.net, mirandakerr.com, alilarter.net and dozens more.

Ladygaga.org is currently a Lady Gaga fan site.

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Disputes Movies National Arbitration Forum News

HappyFeet2.com official site on the way, Warner Bros. wins domain dispute

Happy Feet 2

Fans of Happy Feet will be happy to know, that soon enough, when they type in the web address happyfeet2.com into their web browser they’ll be redirected to official web site of Warner Bros’ Happy Feet 2, set to premier in the U.S. on November 17, 2011, instead of a Go Daddy parked page.

In early July, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum over the domain name happyfeet2.com.

The case was simple for the single member panel.

Warner Bros. made the following assertions according to the domain decision posted online:

Complainant is a producer of motion pictures in the United States and abroad. 

Complainant produced the HAPPY FEET film that debuted in 2006 in the United States and has become the third-highest grossing animated film in the United States with sales of $400 million worldwide. 

Complainant owns trademark registrations on file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for its HAPPY FEET mark (including Reg. No. 3,350,899, registered December 11, 2007). 

Complainant has used the HAPPY FEET mark in relation to the marketing of its film of the same name, as well as related toys, clothing, books and a variety of other merchandise bearing its mark. 

Respondent registered the <happyfeet2.com> domain name on May 12, 2009, only seven days after Complainant publicly announced that it would be filming “Happy Feet 2,” a sequel to the original film.  

Respondent uses the disputed domain name to redirect Internet users, for commercial gain, to a generic parking page which features links to the websites of others offering products or services related to and in competition with Complainant’s business.

Respondent offered to sell the disputed domain name to Complainant for not less than $2,500.  

Respondent’s contested <happyfeet2.com> domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s HAPPY FEET mark.

Respondent is not commonly known by the disputed domain, and Complainant has not authorized Respondent to use its mark in a domain name.

Respondent does not have any rights to or legitimate interests in the domain name <happyfeet2.com>.

Respondent registered and uses the disputed <happyfeet2.com> domain name in bad faith.

In essence, Warner Bros. won. 

You can read all the details about the domain dispute and decision here.

Warner Bros. Entertainment does own HappyFeetTwo.com, which it redirects to the official Happy Feet Two website on warnerbros.com.

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

With return of ThunderCats, comes domain dispute over ThunderCats.com

thundercats

 An all-new ThunderCats animated series premieres on Cartoon Network tonight.

Warner Bros anticipates the series will appeal to viewers who have loved the characters all their lives as well as young newcomers to the franchise.  That, according to a press release.

Now with all the hype surrounding ThunderCats, it appears Warner Bros wants to setup a website using ThunderCats.com. 

The only problem is, the company doesn’t own the domain.

A domain dispute (case No. 1400583) has been filed with the National Arbitration Forum.  While the name of the complainant isn’t known at this time, it’s a safe bet that it’s Warner Bros behind the filing.

Since 2003, Warner Bros has filed several disputes with the National Arbitration Forum – and won. 

In one of its more recent cases, Warner Bros won hogwarts.com. 

The company has only had 2 claims denied at the National Arbitration Forum.  Djbatman.com in 2004 and DaisyDukes.com in 2005.