Wednesday, 20 May 2009 06:21 Domain News
bofaml.com, mlbofa.com, bofamerrill.com, and merrillbofa.com were registered by a New York company.
These domain names are related to Bank of America’s acquisition.The owner of the domain names stated that "it is a ‘domainer’ group where the group looks to acquire high value domain names and park them with domain parking service providers to generate pay-per-click revenue”.He also said that that "bofa" are two highly regarded Chinese characters meaning treasure and rich.All in all ,the arbitrator decided that only two of the domain names are similar to Bank of America’s BofA trademark:bofaml.com and mlbofa.com .
"The Panel does not consider that “bofamerrill” or “merrillbofa” is confusingly similar to any of the registered trademarks. The joinder of BOAC and Merrill Lynch as co-complainants does not entail the creation of rights in portmanteau trademark combinations such as “B OF A MERRILL LYNCH” or “MERRILL LYNCH B OF A”. The registered trademarks continue to have their own separate proprietorship and, by reason only of the joining of the parties in these proceedings, there are no new rights created in combinations of the registered marks."
