RE: domain name speculation

From: Scott Brew <sbrew_at_usxchange.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Aug 1999 18:12:39 -0500 (CDT)

NARI KANNAN WROTE:
>To my limited neural capabilities, this issue seems very
>easy. If a name is trademarked already you cannot use it to
>do business in Print, Television or a Brick-and-Mortar
>store. Ford might sue me if I start a "Ford Books" or "Ford
>Amusement Park". So why should I claim the right to
>www.ford.com just because I reserved it first?

While I agree with the general argument that trademarks need
to be protected in the online world, I think it's important
to understand exactly what a trademark protects.

Ford would have no right to go after anyone doing brick and
mortar business as Ford Books. There needs to be a realistic
chance of consumer confusion or clear "piggy-backing" of a
popular brand. Usually, one would need to engage in a
materially similar business in order to be open to trademark
infringement claims outside of the internet.

The difference in the internet world is that the domain name
ford.com is unique (courts have backed this idea up, though
I don't have a specific case to cite). Unfortunately, the
domain ford.com can not be shared by the mom-and-pop
bookstore down the street and the behemoth auto manufacturer
in Detroit. Even more unfortunate is when the mom-and-pop
bookstore had the foresight to register the domain and get
online before the behemoth, but mom and pop wind up losing
in the end to the flock of lawyers and injunctions showered
upon them claiming trademark infringement.

While domain piracy and cyber-squatting is a very real
problem, it's important to understand that there are just as
many victims of corporate domain hijacking as there are of
cybersquatting.

Another point of view,

Scott Brew
Manager of Technology Development
US Xchange, LLC
616-493-6136
sbrew_at_usxchange.com

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Received on Fri Aug 20 1999 - 19:27:03 CDT