Category: Technology

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Disputes News Technology WIPO

Research In Motion wins domain dispute over BlackBerry10.com, BlackBerry10.net

BlackBerry 10

Research In Motion will soon be in control of the domain names BlackBerry10.com and BlackBerry10.net, after a single-member arbitration panel with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ordered the names transferred to the device maker.

The dotcom URL has directed users to a Google 404 page for months, which triggered a discussion thread over at CrackBerry.com where one user joked that it meant that Google was clearly buying RIM.

BlackBerry 10 is the next operating system from RIM for its BlackBerry line of smartphones and tablets and it is expected to launch in 2013.

RIM has a lot riding on BlackBerry 10, so it makes sense as the company ratchets up its marketing strategy, that it owns the matching domains.  In this case, both names were owned by the same person, so RIM was able to file one complaint (WIPO Case D2012-1146).

At the time of this story, BlackBerry10.com continues to send visitors to a Google 404 error page.

Full details of the decision have not yet been published online.

(Image of BlackBerry 10 Jam World Tour via BlackBerry.com)

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Disputes News Technology WIPO

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

iPad3

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:  Techmeme, The 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)

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News Technology

What’s Facebook got planned? Company registers Facebook Supplier domains

Facebook logo

Domain name registrations made this week suggest that social networking site Facebook might be planning something new.  The company registered a handful of “Facebook Supplier” domain names like FacebookSuppliers.com and FacebookSuppliers.org, hinting at a new service or product.

While Facebook has not officially announced any plans, the new service or product most likely has nothing to do with providing Facebook “Likes” to fan pages and could be a platform for Facebook developers or possibly even a B2B portal.

Right now, it’s just speculation.  It’s also possible the social networking giant decided to register the names to protect its IP.

Below is a list of the names registered by Facebook through the internet brand protection company MarkMonitor.  One name is noticeably missing from the list:  FacebookSupplier.com.  The domain was first registered in 2011, not by Facebook according to Whois, and currently resolves to a parked page.

http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksuppliers.com
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksuppliers.org
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksuppliers.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksupplier.net
http://whois.domaintools.com/facebooksupplier.org

At the time of this story going online, none of the domains resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: AllFacebook

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News Technology

Facebook Inc. gets control of the massive typo domain name wwwFacebook.com

Facebook logo

wwwFacebook

A common typo of a web address, often happens when a person leaves out the period “.” after the “www” when typing the domain into a browser.  In fact, hundreds of disputes have been filed over these types of domains over the years, with nearly every case decided in favor of the complainant.  Now, Facebook appears to be the latest top site to get control of its www typo address.  Earlier this month, the Whois record for wwwFacebook.com changed to Facebook Inc.

Given that Facebook.com is one of the top sites on the web, you can imagine what kind of traffic the typo received.  A rough estimate (screenshot below) by Compete, puts the number of unique visitors at over 250,000 just in the month of April.

WwwFacebook estimated traffic

While many companies have been forced to file complaints to secure rights to their “WWW” typo domains, it appears Facebook acquired the domain name through the brand protection company MarkMonitor.

The domain name had once sold for over $15,000 according to DNJournal, but it’s unknown whether Facebook paid anything to the previous owner.

In 2000, Google won ownership of wwwGoogle.com and also prevailed in a dispute over wwwYouTube.com in 2007.  In 2009, TechCrunch wrote about wwwTwitter.com after the owner had re-directed the domain to TechCrunch.com for a short period of time.

According to Whois history, wwwFacebook.com had expired in late May of this year and was listed on the SnapNames marketplace.  The previous owner used Whois privacy to keep their identity a secret.

At the time of this story, wwwFacebook.com does not resolve to a web page.

Talking about this story: AllFacebook,WebProNews and Domain Name News

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News Technology Video Games

Microsoft files complaint against owner of XboxSmartGlass.com, wants domain [UPDATED]

Xbox SmartGlass

Xbox SmartGlass

Xbox SmartGlass was officially unveiled earlier this week at the E3 convention in Los Angeles.  Days before the big event, rumors had swirled that Microsoft would reveal SmartGlass, prompting the company to register a slew of domains with “SmartGlass” in the name like XboxSmartGlass.net.

One name noticeably missing from the list was XboxSmartGlass.com (Whois).  That’s because Microsoft wasn’t quick enough to register the name.  It was registered by a resident of China who goes by “Haiyue Tang” on the very same day Microsoft moved to secure its “SmartGlass” domains.

Microsoft may have been slow to secure the domain, but it still intends to get it.

Microsoft has now filed a complaint (Case Number 1446970) with the National Arbitration Forum over the domain name XboxSmartGlass.com.

The domain name dispute proceedings commenced this week and also involve windowsphonebar.com.

At the time of this story, XboxSmartGlass.com is a blog written in Chinese that claims to be a non-profit with the purpose of introducing people to the smart glass industry.  Yeah, it’s a stretch.  In one of the first posts on the site, the owner tries to explain the origin of “Xbox SmartGlass” with no mention of Microsoft.

Based on the track record of Microsoft in domain disputes and the fact the company filed a SmartGlass trademark back in January, it should be an open and shut case in Microsoft’s favor.

Talking about this story: Kotaku

UPDATE:. Microsoft has won the dispute for XboxSmartGlass.com and WindowsPhoneBar.com.  Both domains have been ordered transferred.

(Image of Xbox SmartGlass presentation at E3 via Engadget)