Back in June, I discussed how important it would be for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to buy the MSSB.com domain name, which had been privately owned since at least its current creation date of 2003. The private owner didn’t really have a better buyer than the newly formed financial giant, and the new company really needed the domain name to advance its online presence, since it’s inevitable that people would shorten the firm’s long name to MSSB.
It appears that Morgan Stanley Smith Barney understood this need, and instead of going through the legal route to get MSSB.com, it looks like they bought it (the name was in Moniker’s Escrow Account at the end of September). Despite the fact that the company was formed well after the owner purchased the domain name, many companies still feel that they deserve a name like this and use the court system or UDRP process as a means of bullying. They may have even had a shot because the parking page showed financial PPC links, but we’ll never know.
In any case, as of today, the domain name is in the possession of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and the domain name forwards to their long url, morganstanleysmithbarney.com. Kudos to Morgan Stanley Smith Barney for “getting it” by getting the important domain name the company needed.
