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Another Strange Domain Cancellation

Elliot Silver
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4

I read another UDRP result today from the World Intellectual Property Organization that I think is strange – this time involving the domain name CookingWithRedBull.com. As you can probably already tell without even looking, the makers of Red Bull, Red Bull GmbH, filed the UDRP for this domain name. (UPDATE: As George pointed out in the comment section, the complainant requested the cancellation, and the panelist obliged. I haven’t seen that before… My mistake and apologies.)

In fact, the panelist agreed that the domain name infringed on Red Bull’s trademarks, too:

“So here, the Panel finds the Domain Name, <cookingwithredbull.com>, confusingly similar to the Complainant’s mark RED BULL. Moreover, not only is that well-known mark wholly incorporated in the Domain Name, it is identified with a drink and therefore may readily be associated with cooking. Thus the prefix “cooking with” does nothing to distinguish the Domain Name from the mark.”

“The Complainant’s assertions are sufficient to constitute a prima facie showing of absence of rights or legitimate interest in the Domain Name on the part of the Respondent.”

“It follows that the only use to which the Respondent has been shown to have made of the Domain Name prior to notice of this dispute (namely prior to his receipt of the initial cease and desist letter) is to lead to a website displaying, without permission, the Complainant’s logo and a picture of its product, with text likely misleadingly to convey to consumers the impression that the site was approved by or operated by the Complainant. This is not bona fide use under paragraph 4(c)(i) nor legitimate non-commercial or fair use under paragraph 4(c)(iii).”

“The Domain Name is clearly designed to attract Internet users familiar with the Complainant’s energy drink, since the confusing similarity between the Domain Name and the Complainant’s RED BULL mark would be likely to lead Internet users to wonder whether the Domain Name was associated with the Complainant. “

One thing that bothers me about this is that a canceled domain name will likely end up back in the drop pool, where it will be picked up by someone else. If Red Bull wants to continue protecting their mark, they would then have to file another UDRP or file a lawsuit against the next guy who gets it (unless they bid on it at a drop auction).

The inconsistency in results also bothers me, as the panelist didn’t provide rationale for canceling the domain name rather than transferring it. In the past, this same panelist has transferred other domain names, with recent transfers including Confo.com in March 2010, vertuemail.com and vertumail.com February 2010, Tati.com December 2009, and Legoland-california.com August 2009. To my untrained legal eye, the three elements of the Policy were met in the same was as the Red Bull domain name, yet they were given to the Complainant rather than canceled.

UPDATE: As George pointed out in the comment section, the complainant requested the cancellation, and the panelist obliged. I haven’t seen that before… My mistake and apologies.

Domain & Development Legal Questions Are Answered

Elliot Silver
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0

People ask a lot of interesting questions in the legal section of forums like DNForum, Namepros and DomainState, and some of the better known domain lawyers visit those forums and give good information. This is pretty generous, because a lawyer’s knowledge is generally his best asset, and if he’s giving the advice away for free, it’s beneficial to the domain community possibly at his business’ detriment.

Marc Randazza is a First Amendment attorney who is familiar with domain law. He is frequently one of the legal professionals who provides commentary and insight in response to questions posed on the popular domain forums. I was looking at one of his replies on DN Forum, and I saw that he referenced a post on his frequently updated website/blog, The Legal Satyricon.

Not only was the answer to the person’s question answered in Randazza’s blog post, but I saw quite a bit of valuable information on the site. Although the blog doesn’t solely focus on domain names (in fact, domain name law is just one of many topics), there is a wealth of valuable information on Randazza’s site.

I have never engaged Randazza for legal services before, but I appreciate all of the information he shares on his blog.

Fun with Frankenwords

Elliot Silver
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23

I still buy freshly registered domain names, and two such names I picked up over the weekend are Frankenword.com and Frankenwords.com.   What are frankenwords, you ask? According to Wiktionary.org, a frankenword is “a word formed by combining two (or more) other words.”

After registering these domain names, I’ve been thinking of some of my favorite frankenwords, many of which are either vulgar, rude, and/or inappropriate), and thought it’s pretty fun to think of these words and meanings. A few common ones I’ve seen used include ginormous (gigantic+enormous), Brangelina (Brad+Angelina), chillax (chill+relax), manscape (man+landscape), inbredneck (inbred+redneck) and others.

If I had additional time, I’d consider creating a fmylife.com type of website where people add their favorite frankenwords and share them with friends.

So, what are your favorite frankenwords?

Picks for the DNW Snapnames Auction

Elliot Silver
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4

I think personal domain auctions are great, and both Snapnames and Latonas.com have been working with private domain investors and domain companies to host medium-sized domain auctions on behalf of single parties. If you have enough good, saleable domain names, and you are looking to quickly raise capital, it’s something you may wish to consider.

Andrew Allemann at Domain Name Wire let me know that he and a few other domain bloggers are holding a domain auction at Snapnames, which ends tomorrow. Here are a few of my favorite domain names from the auction (I am not a seller in this auction):

  • Cathleen.com
  • EEV.net
  • MusicPhones.com
  • KansasCity.us
  • DUJ.net

If domain investors weren’t incented to publicize their domain names at auction before, they certainly are now.

Do you think private portfolio domain auctions are going to have legs, or do you think their success will be short lived?

Happy Sunday to You… Update and GeoDomain Expo Ticket Winners

Elliot Silver
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Hope you’re having a nice Sunday today. Here are a few things I am thinking about today as well as the winners of my two passes to the Geodomain Expo later this week:

  • It may sound out of place to randomly insert this bit of knowledge into a conversation with your friends, but they should know to buy their .com domain name if available. It made me smile yesterday when one of my friends told me that he’s managing his first political campaign (state representative), and he bought the candidate’s .com domain name…. and the potential typo since the guy’s name is Gregg with an extra g.
  • When I was at the NY Mets game on Friday (rooting against the Mets), I saw a pretty large billboard for a local equipment company called Arpielle Equipment.   They were advertising the url RPLEquipment.com, and I thought it was interesting in light of their difficult name to spell. Of course, their website is located on ArpielleEquipment.com, but it’s a smart way to help people remember a difficult spelling.
  • With just a week left before Karen and I bike 42 miles on Team Ronald to help the Ronald McDonald House non profit, we are just under $750 away from our $4,000 goal.   Here are a few names I am selling with the proceeds going to RMDH (you can pay them directly). Post “sold” in the comment area if you want a name. You can even make an offer if you’d like, and I will consider all offers.
  1. AcceleratedBusinessDegrees.com – $35
  2. ComputerRefurbishing.com – $100
  3. DiaperClutches.com – $50
  4. GunnamattaBay.com – $50
  5. GunnamattaBeach.com – $50
  6. PocketWatchCollector.com – $40
  7. SelfPacedMBA.com – $180
  8. TableTennisSets.com – $40
  9. TelemarkSkiers.com – $50
  10. WeekendMBAPrograms.com – $200
  • I created an Excel spreadsheet with everyone’s name in a different row, and Patrick selected two random numbers using Random.org’s random number generator.   And the two people who are the winners of my passes to the GeoDomain Expo in New Orleans later this week are… Kevin and Steve.   I will be emailing them very shortly with confirmation information from Patrick… I will also be sending an email to the people who didn’t win putting them in touch with Patrick in the event one or both of the winners cannot attend. Thank you to everyone for entering!

Have a great Sunday!

CNN’s iReport News Appearing on CNN.com

Elliot Silver
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I enjoy reading the news, and there are a number of websites I read throughout the day, with CNN.com being one of the websites I visit most frequently. I check back on their website often, although I usually stick to the main headlines, as those are generally the most interesting to me.

Just about everyone in the domain industry knows that CNN paid $750,000 to acquire iReport.com from Rick “Domain King” Schwartz in early 2008. On iReport.com, citizen “journalists” can submit “news” stories they feel would be of interest to others. It’s a neat idea to give exposure to people whose articles may be interesting to others.

Sometime in the last year I think, CNN began adding iReports to its CNN.com home page, without identifying the links as iReports until you got to the actual news story. As far as I am aware, there is no real way to filter actual CNN news stories from these iReport articles. It’s frustrating to me when I click a link and end up on an iReport, as I have come to trust the CNN brand rather than random people who submit stories.

I think it was a good strategic move to buy iReport.com and build a brand on it. I think it’s a really bad move to integrate iReport “journalism” with the actual news, as it is annoying for readers like me who don’t want to read this type of “news.”

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