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News Technology

Motorola gets MotorolaRAZR.com 7 years after launch, in time for Droid RAZR

Motorola RAZR V3i

Seven years after Motorola launched the Motorola RAZR, called by some the “iPod of Mobile Phones”, it has secured the rights to the domain name MotorolaRAZR.com, through Corporation Service Company (CSC), a company that specializes in corporate identity protection.

While the RAZR is one of Motorola’s brands, the timing of the acquisition could continue to strengthen rumors that Motorola is planning to combine two of its most recognizable brands into a new device called the “Droid RAZR“.

It doesn’t appear Motorola used legal means to acquire the domain, as no cases are found in the online databases of the National Arbitration Forum or WIPO.  However, it’s possible lawyers for Motorola sent the owner a cease-and-desist letter.

It’s also very possible that Motorola opened up its wallet and paid the previous owner a large sum of money to get the name quickly.  I’ve reached out to the previous owner of MotorolaRAZR.com for more details, and will update this post if I hear back.

DroidRAZR.com was only recently registered in mid September, the same day rumors began to surface of a “Droid RAZR” smartphone.  However, Motorola doesn’t appear to be the owner.

Here’s a look at the updated Whois record for MotorolaRAZR.com.

Registrant:
Corporation Service Company
Domain Registrar
2711 Centerville Road Suite 400
Wilmington, DE 19808
US

Registrar Name….: CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC.
Registrar Whois…: whois.corporatedomains.com

Domain Name: motorolarazr.com

Created on…………..: Sun, Oct 31, 2004
Expires on…………..: Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Record last updated on..: Sat, Oct 01, 2011

Administrative,Technical Contact:
Corporation Service Company
Domain Registrar
2711 Centerville Road Suite 400
Wilmington, DE 19808
US

Although the registrant is CSC, Motorola uses the brand protection service to purchase domain names for its released and yet-to-be released devices like the Accusense, the Energia, and the Kore.

Discussion: Electronista

Categories
News

AOL teases mqVibe launch: Something cool is coming to your neighborhood

mqVibe

I have written about AOL’s rumored plans to launch a neighborhood social networking service using MapQuest called “nVibe” and “mqVibe” in the last two weeks, after I found that AOL had filed a number of related trademarks and registered domains around the terms ‘NVibe’ and ‘Neighborhood Vibe’, as well as mqVibe.   

Today, AOL put up a teaser page on MapQuest.com at the following web address: http://mqvibe.mapquest.com/comingsoon

A message on the homepage reads: Something cool is coming to your neighborhood.

The one page website features nothing more than links to the official MapQuest accounts on Facebook and Twitter.

Once again, here’s a quick look at each of the trademarks, which are similar to the NVibe filings.

Serial Number: 85424935
Providing information and news in the field of local business

Serial Number: 85424931
Providing geographic information, destination information, interactive maps, and driving directions via computer and communications networks; Providing information, news, and commentary in the field of travel via computer and communications networks

Serial Number: 85424926
Providing a website that enables users to connect with people in a particular neighborhood or city; Providing user-defined content and content of others selected and customized based on the known or estimated geographical location of users

Serial Number: 85424918
Online social networking services; online local and community social networking services

At the time of this story, AOL has not officially announced anything about mqVibe.

Discussion: ReadWriteWeb

Categories
News Technology

Amazon goes on a massive buying spree, buys over 500 Kindle Fire & Silk domains

Kindle Fire

The announcement of the all-new Kindle Fire and Silk browser set to be released on November 15, 2011, has ignited a massive domain name buying spree by Amazon. 

On the very same day Amazon unveiled the Kindle Fire, the company registered well over 500 domain names related to the Kindle Fire and Silk browser products, through the brand protection company MarkMonitor.

The names range from 3gKindleFire.com to KindleFireClouddrive.com, and SilkSmartphones.com to SilkHTML5.com

While many of the registrations are certainly defensive in nature, some of the registrations may hint at future plans for Amazon’s newest products.

Because the list of registrations is so long, you can view the registrations here.

Discussion: The Next Web, @RobinWauters, Business Insider, Geeky Gadgets, TechFlash, Media Bistro, CNET News, CNET AustraliaSlashGear, TechRadar and Digital Trends

Categories
News

Facebook forming a political action committee? Registers fbpac.org, fbpac.us

Zuckerberg meets President Obama

Is Facebook officially forming a political action committee (PAC) in order to influence federal elections?  

It looks like Facebook may be taking the first steps ahead of the 2012 elections, as the company has registered the domain names fbpac.org and fbpac.us.

Other software giants have formed PACs.  In 2006, Google formed its own political action committee, while Microsoft created its PAC in 1998.

While it’s unknown whether Facebook has already filed the necessary federal paperwork to set up a political action committee, considering Facebook’s size and influence, it only makes sense that Facebook eventually forms a PAC. 

It’s also very possible, these domain names could be nothing more than part of the company’s intellectual property strategy.  Facebook owns hundreds, a large pecentage of which it doesn’t use.

Here’s a look at the Whois record for fbpac.org.

Domain Name:FBPAC.ORG
Created On:24-Sep-2011 16:57:52 UTC
Last Updated On:24-Sep-2011 16:57:53 UTC
Expiration Date:24-Sep-2013 16:57:52 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:MarkMonitor Inc. (R37-LROR)
Registrant ID:mmr-92157
Registrant Name:Domain Administrator
Registrant Organization:Facebook, Inc.
Registrant Street1:1601 S. California Ave
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Palo Alto
Registrant State/Province:CA
Registrant Postal Code:94304
Registrant Country:US

Discussion: Media BistroVentureBeat and All Facebook

(Photo of Barack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg talking before a private meeting via The White House’s Photostream)

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Denied: Lady Gaga loses dispute over LadyGaga.org domain name

Lady Gaga

Despite being an internationally renowned recording artist and performer who has sold millions of albums globally, as well as a fashion icon as claimed in her complaint, Ms. Stefani Germanotta, better known as “Lady Gaga” was denied rights to the domain name LadyGaga.org after filing a dispute with the National Arbitration Forum on August 17, 2011.

The respondent in the case was “oranges arecool XD”, who owns well over 2,000 domain names, many of which are celebrity domains like faith-hill.us, keyshiacole.org, audrina-patridge.org, and even blakelively.com (which I’ve written about in the past).

In order to have the domain name transferred, Lady Gaga had to prove all of the following:

(1)  the domain name registered by “oranges arecool XD” was identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Lady Gaga had rights; and
(2)   “oranges arecool XD” (the respondent) had 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.

On point #1, Lady Gaga proved that ladygaga.org was identical to her LADY GAGA mark, as follows.

1.    LADY GAGA (Reg. No. 3,695,038 registered October 13, 2009);
2.    LADY GAGA (Reg. No. 3,695,129 registered October 13, 2009);and
3.    LADY GAGA (Reg. No. 3,960,468 registered May 17, 2011).

However, on point #2 “Rights or Legitimate Interests”, Lady Gaga lost.

The three-member panel found that Lady Gaga had not established a prima facie case in support of her arguments that “oranges arecool XD” lacked rights and legitimate interests.

Because point #2 was not proven, point #3 was considered moot.

As a result, Lady Gaga’s complaint was denied and “oranges arecool XD” (the registrant/respondent) kept the domain name.

You can read the details of the decision here: Claim Number: FA1108001403808

Discussion: 106.1 KISS FM