6th Circuit decision upholding an award of punitive damages under ACPA against an individual who registered the name FORDWORLD.COM and attempted to sell it to Ford Motors. The case provides stautory construction as to how to apply ACPA to domain names registered prior to the enacment date of ACPA (November 1, 1999). Also, while courts may
Verisign and Wait List Service
A not-flattering article on Verisign’s Wait List Service via The Register. As mentioned here earlier in a piece about the skeletons of domain names, the Register article points out that a lot of the demand for expired domain names stems from a desire to utilize the pre-existing network of links and bookmarks to
Knock-offs Are Rip-offs
Here are two very different treatments of the knock-off problem.
This is an article from the Washington Post reporting on the “Get Real” campaign by the interior design industry making the business case against customers purchasing knock-offs: inferior manufacture means less value to the customer. That’s the real Herman Miller Noguchi table pictured right.
In
Can You Trust the People in the Authentication Business?
A not flattering account of financial moves by domain name registrar Register.com (registry operator of the security-oriented .pro top level domain) in the NY Times (registration need).
Copyright Registration Services and the Practice of Law
I learned of a ‘copyright registration’ sevice via a copyright blog, which appeared to recommend the service but overlooked a few details. ICANN Blog touches on some points. I would like to add some more. The service advertises that it reviews the document for ‘errors and omissions.’ Would such an error include whether you are claiming
Will the Rocky Mountain News Start Accepting Ads From Knock-Off Artists?
This column from the Rocky Mountain News recommending the purchase of knock-off products (and encouraging confusion with sentences such as [website] carries BURBERRY when the authors appear to know that the site carries BURBERRY knock-offs) seems somewhat irresponsible
Counterfeit trademarked products are illegal and for good reason. The makers of counterfeit products steal from trademark
House Hearing on Whois and ICANN
The House Judiciary Subcommitee on Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property, will hold hearings on ICANN and Whois next week. Rep. Lamar Smith (Texas), the committee’s Chair and Rep. Howard L. Berman (California), the ranking Democrat wrote to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans raising questions about Whois issues.
I find the last two paragraphs of page
Apple iTunes Parody
That's Some Catch, That Catch-22
I’m getting calls and letters asking me to blog the Abercrombie ’22’ matter, in which Abercrombie is suing a competitor, American Eagle Outfitters, for its alleged infringement of Abercrombie’s claimed common law trademark in the number 22 (arising from use in its HOLLISTER line). Why this suit is getting press may be due to
Time to Look at IcannWatch
Check out IcannWatch today. Good pieces on upcoming Congressional hearings, the domain name indsutry’s tendency to pre-sell things that don’t exist (to people who don’t want them), a voting system for domain names, .name’s second bite at the apple, and the UDRP.