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Disputes Featured News Video Games WIPO

Take-Two goes after GTAV.com domain name, files dispute with WIPO [UPDATED]

Grand Theft Auto V screen

With the release of the highly-anticipated Grand Theft Auto V fast approaching, Take-Two has been aggressively going after fake beta websites like gta5betacode.com by filing complaints with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Since the beginning of the year, the video game company has filed more than two dozen disputes, and so far, every decision that has been issued by a panel has gone in the company’s favor.

Riding a wave of success, the company has now set its sights on the four-letter domain GTAV.com, which is currently registered to a resident of Spain according to WHOIS records.

Case Number D2013-1382 popped up on WIPO’s website earlier today.

At the time of this posting, GTAV.com redirects users to the official Grand Theft Auto V website located at: http://www.rockstargames.com/V/.

As late as February of this year, however, GTAV.com was a blog centered on the upcoming video game.  According to screenshots.com, the site had been online since March 2012.

Below is a screenshot of the blog from February 2013.

GTAV blog

This dispute may or may not be a win for Take-Two.

The current registrant has had the name since at least 2008 according to WHOIS history.

And as the recent case of WiiU.com shows, it’s no slam dunk.

UPDATE 1 August 16, 2013: Take-Two has taken control of the GTAV.com domain name.

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(Image of GTA V via RockstarGames.com)

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Disputes Featured National Arbitration Forum Technology

Microsoft takes ownership of XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net domain names [UPDATED]

XboxOne.com domain name

Microsoft’s lawyers have officially taken ownership of the domain names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net after filing a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) back in late May.

Both domains just changed registrants to Microsoft, c/o The Richard Law Group, a law firm that often represents Microsoft in domain disputes.  Last year, the firm helped secure XboxPhone.com and XboxTablet.com.  Those names are among a long list of names recovered at NAF by Microsoft.

The victory makes Microsoft the first company to secure the matching dotcom domain of its next-generation video game console.

Sony doesn’t own PlayStation4.com nor has it filed any type of public complaint.  Playstation4.com re-directs visitors to PSX Extreme, a video game website that covers PlayStation news.  Playstation4.com is currently owned by Poise Media Inc., according to WHOIS records.

Nintendo recently suffered a somewhat embarrassing domain defeat, after its complaint over WiiU.com was denied.

The official ruling by NAF has yet to be published on its website, but should appear any day now.

Here’s a look at the WHOIS record for XboxOne.com, showing the updated record:

WHOIS: XboxOne.com

UPDATE 3 July 24, 2013: In a separate but related case, Microsoft took ownership of Xbox1.com (WHOIS). The company filed a dispute over the domain in early June, and like XboxOne.com, the dispute was withdrawn from NAF before a ruling was issued.

UPDATE 2 July 19, 2013: Both domains have switched over to Microsoft’s domain servers, but instead of directing users to the official Xbox website, they redirect users to its Bing search engine.

UPDATE 1 July 17, 2013:  The case with NAF was withdrawn according to an update posted on its website today.  While it’s unknown exactly why the case was withdrawn, chances are the previous owner decided to hand over the names to Microsoft’s lawyers instead of waiting for a ruling by a panel.

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(Image of E3 via Xbox Wire)

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Disputes Featured Technology WIPO

Complaint Denied: Nintendo loses dispute over WiiU.com domain name [UPDATED]

Wii U

In February, Nintendo of America filed a cybersquatting complaint against the owner of WiiU.com with the World Intellectual Property Organization, in what seemed like a slam dunk case for the video game company.

A decision in WIPO Case Number D2013-0322 was posted to WIPO’s website Saturday and Nintendo has lost.

The domain, which matches the name of Nintendo’s latest video game console the “Wii U”, will stay with its current owner.

Now, if the company wants to own WiiU.com (WHOIS), it may have to write a big check in order to acquire it.

What’s interesting is days before Nintendo originally filed its complaint back in February, WiiU.com was set for auction on the domain name auction marketplace SnapNames.  However, once the case was filed with WIPO, the auction listing was removed.

SnapNames

If Nintendo opted to take the auction route, it may have paid the same price as the UDRP fees, had it beat out other bidders for the name.  It’s possible it may have even paid less, as other bidders may have avoided the name fearing it would be turned over in a dispute.

Today, WiiU.com is parked at SmartName and displays sponsored ads, many of which are for Nintendo’s products, as you can see in the screenshot below.

Wiiu.com parked page

In related news, Sony doesn’t own Playstation4.com (WHOIS) nor has the company filed any kind of dispute.

Microsoft filed a complaint over XboxOne.com in late May and added another complaint over Xbox1.com in early June.  Decisions have not been reached in either case.

In 2006, Nintendo reportedly paid a substantial amount of money for Wii.com.  Because of a non-disclosure agreement, the price was never publicly disclosed, but some put the price tag anywhere between $5,000 – $250,000 and over $3 million.

Nintendo announced the launch of the Wii U back in 2011 without owning the name.  It didn’t file trademark applications until August 2011.

UPDATE 1: Details of the decision by the three-member panel have now been published online.  While the panel found that the domain is “identical or confusingly similar” to Nintendo’s WII U trademark, it also concluded that Nintendo failed to prove that the respondent had no rights to the name.  The respondent provided evidence the name was registered in January 2004 in order to establish a website for a “We Invest in You” business venture.  (You can read the full decision here.)

UPDATE 2: Nintendo told Eurogamer.net it is looking at other legal options.  “Nintendo has a strong history of protecting against infringement of our intellectual property rights and we are continuing to review our legal options. This decision does not impact Nintendo’s ability to enforce against violations concerning intellectual property.”

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(Image of Ninja Gaiden for Wii U via Nintendo.com)

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Disputes Featured National Arbitration Forum News Technology

Now Microsoft’s lawyers are going after Xbox1.com domain name [UPDATED]

Xbox One

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)

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Disputes Featured National Arbitration Forum News Technology

Microsoft files dispute over XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net domain names

Xbox One

Microsoft has filed a complaint (Case Number 1501205) with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) over the domain names XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net.

The filing appeared online today, just two days after the company announced its next-generation console the Xbox One.

For months speculation, often based on domain registrations by the company, was rampant as to what Microsoft would call the next Xbox.

The company kept the name a secret, and kept away from registering “Xbox One” domains that would have tipped their hand.

XboxOne.com (WHOIS) and XboxOne.net (WHOIS) are registered to a resident of the United Kingdom.

Both domains are parked at Go Daddy today, but at one point, XboxOne.com was a website dedicated to Xbox-related news.  Here’s a screenshot of the XboxOne.com website from the early 2000s, courtesy of Screenshots.com.

Xbox One Website

As I’ve written before, Microsoft has had a lot of success with its domain disputes, so its latest case will almost certainly go in its favor.

XboxSmartglass.com was ordered transferred to Microsoft, as was XboxPhone.com and XboxFitness.com.   The list of victories in domain disputes for Microsoft goes on and on.  In 2012, Microsoft took ownership of several names such as XboxMusic.com, XboxSports.com, and XboxVideo.com just to name a few.

It appears only a single complaint was filed for both domains. According to UDRP rules, if more than one domain being disputed is held by the same respondent, all of the names may be included in the same complaint. Rule 3(b)(vi).

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(Image of Xbox One via Microsoft.com)