Nearly 1,000 domain disputes have been filed with WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, since the beginning of 2011, with many cases getting attention across the web like the case of Facebook which filed a complaint over 21 separate domains and won.
Here’s a look at some of the more recent disputes filed that include companies ranging from Google to The California Milk Processor Board which filed a complaint over the domain name momgotmilk.com.
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft – gea.com
GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft, one of the largest system providers for food and energy processes with about EUR 4.4 billion revenue in 2010 according to its website has filed a domain dispute over the three-letter domain name gea.com. Gea.com was first registered back in 1995 and is currently owned by G.E.A Design. The complainant uses geagroup.com for its company website. Although it may seem impossible that the company could win gea.com, you will be surprised. In 2003, GEA Group won the three-letter domain gea.biz.
TPI Holdings, Inc. – autotrade.com
Autotrader.com and Auto Trader are trademarks of TPI Holdings, Inc. TPI Holdings is no stranger to WIPO having filed nearly two dozen cases since 2000 with most involving the keyword “trader”, not “trade”. Its most recent cases came in 2010 when it won the transfer of autotraderleaseguide.com, cycletradermagazine.com, and cycletradermagazines.com. Well known domain investor Garry Chernoff is the current owner of autotrade.com. Garry Chernoff made headlines in 2011 with top dollar sales including gamesforgirls.com at $500,000 and bluejeans.com for $150,000.
The California Milk Processor Board – momgotmilk.com
The California Milk Processor Board is the owner of the Got Milk? trademark. The CA Milk Processor Board currently owns about 40 domain names according to DomainTools, which include gotmilkchocolate.com and cowabduction.com. It also owns and operates gotmilk.com, a website that receives thousands of visitors a month according to Compete. In 2010 the CA Milk Processor Board won a number of domain names after the respondent failed to reply. Among the names handed over were gotalmondmilk.com and gotnutmilk.com.
Wikimedia Foundation Inc. and Google Inc.
Unlike the cases of autotrade.com and gea.com, Wikimedia and Google seem to have more legitimate claims. Wikimedia is going after the domains wikiipedia.org, wikipediia.org, and wikippedia.org. Google is going after ad-words.mobi. Wikimedia won cases earlier this year over additional typo domains wekipedia.com and wikkipedia.org. A rough estimate by Compete, shows that 2 of the 3 typos actually get traffic in the hundreds each month.
To see some of the latest WIPO UDRP cases, visit the WIPO website.