Tag: domain disputes

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Disputes News WIPO

Columbia Pictures files dispute over FantasyIsland.com [UPDATED]

Fantasy Island

Fantasy Island

Last summer DotWeekly wrote about the domain name FantasyIsland.com selling in a Go Daddy expired domain auction for $22,005 USD. 

The first comment made by a reader of the article was that the purchase was a waste of money.

“What a waste of money IMO.  That purchase makes no sense unless you own the rights to the show Fantasy Island. If not, what the hell can one do with it? A titty bar? “Boss boss, de UDRP, de UDRP,”” wrote Mike.

Well, now Columbia Pictures Industries, which has owned the Fantasy Island trademark since the early 1980s, has filed a domain dispute (Case Number: D2012-0043) over FantasyIsland.com with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the current owner is going to have to think about what to do.

What makes this case interesting is that the current owner Howard Guessner, has owned the domain name dating back to 2004 all the way up through today, according to Whois historical records.  So it appears Guessner may have renewed the domain in time and never paid $22K to Go Daddy to purchase it in an expiring auction.  

I’ve reached out to Guessner via e-mail to learn more and will update this post if I hear back.

[Updated on February 29, 2012:. The name has been ordered transferred to Columbia Pictures Industries.  The decision was issued on February 19, 2012.  Full details of the decision can be read here.]

Categories
Disputes News WIPO

UPDATED: Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder wants eddievedder.com

Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder

Eddie Vedder, the lead singer of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam, wants the web address eddievedder.com.

A complaint (WIPO Case Number: D2012-0035) was filed this week with the World Intellectual Property Organization over the domain name.

What’s interesting about this case is that according to WHOIS records, Pearl Jam owned the domain name back in the mid-2000s up through late 2010, when the name switched over to Whois privacy.

EV Touring, Inc., which also owns the trademark on Eddie Vedder, is the complainant in the domain dispute. 

At the time of this posting, the domain does not resolve to a web page.

A user who goes by the name hobeyb on the website Aftermarket, an online marketplace for domains, has the web address listed for sale for $18,400.

While this type of filing might seem like an open-and-shut case in favor of the complainant, it doesn’t always end up that way.  In September, Lady Gaga lost her dispute over LadyGaga.org.

Given the circumstances of the Eddie Vedder trademark and that the current domain owner is apparently trying to benefit from the sale of the name, in a few short weeks, this name could be in the possession of the Pearl Jam lead singer. 

Stay tuned here for updates on how it all goes.  I will update this post when a decision is issued by the WIPO Panel.

[Update 1 on January 19, 2012:.  The case was terminated before a ruling was issued.  According to the Whois records, the domain was handed over to EV Touring, Inc.]

Discussion: Pearl Jam – Ten Club Community, antiMusic.com, Audio Ink Radio and Red Mosquito

(Image of Eddie Vedder in Calgary, Canada via PearlJam.com)

Categories
Disputes News WIPO

Domain dispute proceedings over typo Twiter.com have been suspended

Twiter logo

It appears Twitter has requested that the proceedings over the disputed domain twiter.com be suspended. 

The micro blogging site filed a domain dispute (case #D2011-0890) over the web address twiter.com with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in early June, days later it added twiter.biz to its case. 

The owner of twiter.com has used the web address typo to trick visitors into clicking links that promise free gifts after providing personal information such as email and address.

According to the latest website update (see below) by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, the case status has been changed to ‘Suspended’, which indicates that Twitter has reached a settlement with the respondent.  

Twitter WIPO UDRP Suspended

As of today though, the domain names twiter.com and twiter.biz are not in the hands of Twitter and twiter.com continues to re-direct visitors to an online survey website.  If the respondent in the case fails to transfer the domain names or fulfill their end of the agreement, Twitter can file a request to re-institute the proceedings.

Either way, this domain dispute seems like an open and shut case whether the case is terminated or reinstated. 

Twitter’s only other case filed to date with WIPO involved twittersearch.com back in 2010, a domain dispute that also never reached a panel, but was transferred to Twitter.

Categories
Disputes News WIPO

Twitter adds twiter.biz to its case at WIPO

Official Twitter homepage

Twitter has added an additional domain name to its dispute recently filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over the typo twiter.com. 

According to the WIPO Guide to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), “Under Paragraph 3(c) of the UDRP Rules, the Complaint may relate to more than one domain name, so long as the person or entity that is the registrant of the domain names specified in the Complaint is the same.”

Although twiter.biz doesn’t resolve at the time of this story, twiter.com still has a website online that tricks visitors who accidentally type in the address into thinking they’re on an official Twitter page.  

An online survey then asks a series of questions before trying to gather your cell phone and e-mail information.

A compliance review is currently pending for WIPO Case D2011-0986.

Categories
Disputes News WIPO

Facebook takes control of disputed domains once owned by Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings

Mark Zuckerberg au Facebook Developer Garage Paris, 2008

Killfacebook.com, moneywithfacebook.com, friendsonfacebook.com and 18 other domain names that included the word Facebook have now been transferred to social networking giant Facebook following a recent decision by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).

The disputed domain names were part of a case filed at WIPO by Facebook against Mike Mann’s Domain Asset Holdings.

This week, Facebook took official ownership of the domains and updated the domain servers.

The domain names are as follows:

aboutfacebook.com
facebookbabes.com
facebookcheats.com
facebookclub.com
facebookdevelopment.com
facebookfest.com
facebookintegration.com
facebookjournal.com
facebookking.com
facebookland.com
facebooksafety.com
facebookstudio.com
facebookstuff.com
freefacebookapps.com
friendsonfacebook.com
fundraisingwithfacebook.com
joinusonfacebook.com
killfacebook.com
moneyfromfacebook.com
moneywithfacebook.com
newfacebookapplication.com>