The infamous HMV were recently unsuccessful in wresting the domain name "topdog.com" from the receiver of a US software company that had registered the name in 1995. The domain name was one of many assets of the company that were transferred to a receiver when its company registration lapsed. The company never developed a website for the domain and the receiver intended to sell the domain name to the highest bidder to distribute the proceeds to creditors.
HMV argued that the receiver did not have a legitimate interest in the domain name and that the receiver had registered the name in bad faith. The panel that heard the case decided otherwise.
This dispute was dealt with under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and highlights the difficulties that can be experienced when dealing with receivers that have come into possession of intellectual property assets that copy the brands of others. In these circumstances the rights of creditors are paramount to the proprietary rights of IP owners.
Moral of the Story
To avoid these problems when choosing brands ensure that you obtain the full range of protection before you start using them. Use searching services to establish availability of the brand and its corresponding domain name and police these regularly with watching services. Otherwise you risk incurring substantial costs attempting to transfer the domain name and if unsuccessful further costs buying the domain name.
Comments