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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Google goes after YouTube typo domains that it didn’t win in a previous dispute

YouTune.com

Google has been going after popular typos of the web address YouTube.com in recent months and it’s been having its share of success in disputes, winning five typo domain names in early January and several more later that month in another case that also involved Google typo domains.

However, in a separate complaint (Case No. 1413915) that reached a decision in late December 2011, Google only batted .740, as reported by Domain Name Wire

In that case, Google won rights to 37 typo domain names, but lost its claim to 13 infringing domain names like YouTune.com because the Panelist found that the 13 domains were registered prior to the trademark filings with the USPTO of January 30, 2006.  As Domain Name Wire pointed out, it appears Google got screwed. “The first use in commerce date on the trademark is April 24, 2005, which predates the 13 additional domain registrations.”

Google hasn’t given up hope on winning those 13 domains.  

According to a new filing (Case No. 1428476) with the National Arbitration Forum this week, Google is once again going after: tyoutube.com, youstube.com, youtbue.com, youttube.com, youtubenaruto.com, youtubr.com, youtubube.com, youtubve.com, youtune.com, yoututbe.com, youtuube.com, youyube.com, and yutub.com.

As with all domain disputes, each Panel examines three elements before reaching a decision.

(1) is the domain name identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights
(2) the owner has 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. 

If all three elements are satisfied, then the domain names will finally be ordered transferred to Google.

Each of the typo domains named in Google’s latest complaint, send visitors to an online survey scam (as shown in the picture above of YouTune.com), that asks a series of questions and attempts to gather personal information by promising free gifts like an iPhone 4S or an iPad 2.

Discussion: The Next Web, Marketing Land and DNFBlog.com

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Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Google wins dispute over YouTube typo domains, names ordered transferred

YouTube Scam Survey site

In a no-brainer, a single-member Panel with the National Arbitration Forum has ordered several YouTube typo domain names be transferred to Google.

The domain names disputed in the case were: youtbe.com, youtub.com, youtue.com, youube.com, and yutube.com.

The respondent, who filed no response in the proceeding, had been using the names to send unsuspecting users to a survey scam that asked a series of questions and attempted to gather personal information by promising free gifts like Best Buy gift cards.

Google filed the complaint (Case No. 1416796) at the end of November.

Judge Harold Kalina (Ret.), Panelist, found that all three elements required under the ICANN Policy to transfer the domains were satisfied.

1)  the domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and
(2)  Respondent has 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

Full details of the ruling, which was issued on January 5, have been posted online.

Discussion: The Next Web, Marketing Land, Index, The Verge, Afterdawn.com and mediabistro

Categories
Disputes National Arbitration Forum News

Google going after YouTube typo domains that lead to survey scams

YouTube Scam Survey site

Google is going after several popular typos of the web address YouTube.com, all owned by the same person. 

Each typo domain leads unsuspecting users to a site that looks confusingly similar to the official YouTube site (as shown in the picture above of YouTub.com – minus the ‘e’).  Instead of landing on Google’s YouTube, users are taken to a survey scam that asks a series of questions and attempts to gather personal information by promising free gifts like Best Buy gift cards.

Google filed the complaint (Case No. 1416796) with the National Arbitration Forum this past week over the domain names: youtbe.com, youtub.com, youtue.com, youube.com, and yutube.com. 

The names are all registered to the same person as seen in WHOIS records, allowing Google to file one complaint that relates to more than one domain name, under UDRP rules.

According to rough traffic estimates provided by Compete.com, visitors number in the thousands to each site every month.  In October for example, YouTub.com reported over 6,000 unique visitors.

As with all domain disputes, each panel examines three elements before reaching a decision:

(1) is the domain name identical or confusingly similar to a trademark in which the complainant has rights
(2) the owner has 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. 

If all three elements are satisfied, then the domain names will be ordered transferred to Google.

This will likely be an open-and-shut case for Google.  Earlier this month, Twitter Inc. won a similar dispute over the highly trafficked domain Twiter.com after filing a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

I’ve reached out to the owner of the disputed domain names for comment, and will update this story if I hear back.

Google had its own share of problems with the YouTube web address early on, but it found itself on the other side of a dispute.

Just weeks after acquiring the video site, Universal Tube & Rollform Equipment filed a lawsuit in 2006 after its site (utube.com) continuously crashed because of millions of people looking for YouTube.  Universal Tube ended up using utubeonline.com for its business web address, and kept ownership of utube.com – a site that today averages a million visitors per month according to Compete.

Discussion:TechCrunchSilicon Republic, The Verge, Softpedia, Techmeme, iG Tecnologia and Punto Informatico