07-04-2006, 09:29 AM
vicki2 Wrote:Is this usually the case with most domain names even if the name of a company is a name ...say, like Smith? So, there's a famous company named Smith.com ....and you know they are expanding and you buy SmithEurope.com. Would the same apply?
The policy which is applied is the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which was adopted by ICANN in 1999. Although UDRP is supposed to be 'fair', and not favor trademark holders in every case, it turns out that if youre a trademark holder, then youre probably going to get a name.
The reason for this is pretty simple. ICANN accredited a series of 'legal' committees to settle domain trademark cases. These committees all handle the same types of cases, and so they basically work in competition with each other. Since it is the trademark holder who generally initiates a UDRP proceeding, it is the trademark holder who has to choose to which committee the case will be taken. Obviously, trademark holders go for the committees which usually give the domain to the trademark holder. Also, since the committees want more business, they favour trademark holders.
To see what I'm talking about, have a look at some of the UDRP cases:
http://www.icann.org/udrp/proceedings-list-dec.htm
Some are obvious trademark winners, like Dior.org or JPMorgan.org, but what about other names like trw.net, or jt.com which also got transfered!
