Domain name ruling favors small businesses.
Published:
16 September 1999 y., Thursday
In a significant win for small businesses on the Net, a federal judge has ruled that a registered trademark, even when held by a well-known company, does not automatically entitle its holder to
own the corresponding domain name. The decision, made public last weekend, is a major win for a single-employee consulting firm called Clue Computing, which owns the domain name Clue.com.
Hasbro, the multibillion-dollar toy maker and manufacturer of the mystery board game Clue, claimed rights to the Net address in a costly legal battle launched more than three years ago. The
decisions run contrary to common perceptions that a trademark held by one group automatically trumps a rival_s rights to own the corresponding domain name. They come as a division within the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)-the nonprofit that oversees the Net_s core functions--is forging a new policy to resolve disputes over domain names. The decisions demonstrate just how difficult it is to balance the rights of small domain name owners and those of large trademark holders.
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Software company announced new structure_ of it_s business.
more »
As the 108th Congress scrambles in its final days to address homeland security issues, U.S. Reps. Mac Thornberry and Zoe Lofgren are focusing on the state of U.S. cybersecurity
more »
Security firms are warning of a new series of Sdbot worms that install a "sniffer" component to steal passwords from unsuspecting users
more »
Microsoft's undeclared patent claims on Sender ID technology is holding up adoption of the e-mail authentication specification
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
Microsoft has been granted a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on a process known as tabbing through a Web page in order to find links
more »
search.lt presents newest links
more »
UzJilSberBank (Uzbek housing construction bank) completed a project of introduction of plastic cards at Almalyk Mining and Smelting Combine
more »
Recent decisions suggest that U.S. courts are more likely to protect an online database if the work involved was tilted towards the compilation of data itself as opposed to the technology used to gather it
more »
Touch-screen machines brought in to replace the punch-card ballots at the center of the 2000 presidential fiasco appeared to work smoothly in primary voting Tuesday
more »
Shruggle virus could be 'a taste of things to come', warn experts
more »