MINNEAPOLIS, MINN – The National Arbitration Forum (NAF) recently issued decisions on three separate domain name disputes filed by Vin Diesel, Louis Vuitton and the New York Yankees during the month of September; each was settled within two months, a press release by the Forum stated.
“The National Arbitration Forum has administered over 7,200 domain dispute cases to date,” said Curtis Brown, vice president of the NAF’s. “Arbitration has become the premier alternative to lengthy and expensive trademark lawsuits.”
All decisions were reached in accordance with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
On September 25, 2006, Vin Diesel the lead actor in The Fast and the Furious and other Hollywood movies filed a complaint electronically with the National Arbitration Forum asserting legal rights to the domain name vindiesel.com. The arbitrator found that the domain name was being used by the Respondent, L.M. Nordell of Sweden to display links to various competing and non-competing commercial websites that relate to the famed actor.
Because of his appearance in several popular films, the Forum arbitrator ruled in Vin Diesel’s favor, concluding that Diesel had established common law rights in the ‘Vin Diesel’ trademark. The arbitrator ruled that vindiesel.com was confusingly similar to the ‘Vin Diesel’ trademark and that the Respondent registered and used the domain name in bad faith by incorporating the trademark without Diesel’s permission or consent. The arbitrator further ruled that the Respondent, lacked legitimate rights to, or interest in, the disputed domain name. On November 7, 2006, the Complainant successfully defended his trademark in domain name arbitration; vindiesel.com was ordered to be transferred to Vin Diesel.
On September 14, 2006, the high-end fashion bag retailer Louis Vuitton Malletier filed a complaint electronically with the Forum against Manifest Information Services, the registered owner of lv.com. The NAF found that the webpage resolved to a blank page that was once used as a directory of Las Vegas services and businesses.
The Panel found that the owner of lv.com had legitimate interest in lv.com and had not used the lv.com domain name in bad faith. Although Louis Vuitton Malletier uses ‘LV’ initials as a trademark, Louis Vuitton failed to meet all three elements required under the ICANN policy to transfer a domain name. For this reason, the National Arbitration Forum denied transfer of lv.com to Louis Vuitton on November 7, 2006.
The New York Yankees, one of the worlds’s most recognized and followed professional sports teams, submitted their complaint electronically on September 14, 2006. The National Arbitration Forum found that the domain name, nyyankees.com was being used by Covanta Corporation to display links of third-party commercial websites that sell tickets to baseball games as well as merchandise bearing the New York Yankees mark without authorization.
The arbitrator found that the domain name was confusingly similar to the New York Yankees’ trademark and that the Respondent of nyyankees.com had no legitimate interest in the domain name. Furthermore, the domain name was being used to attract Internet users for commercial gain by creating a likelihood of confusion between the disputed domain name and Complainant’s mark. Therefore, the domain name was registered and being used in bad faith. The National Arbitration Forum ordered NYYankees.com to be transferred to the New York Yankees on November 14, 2006.
The National Arbitration Forum is one of the world’s leading providers of alternative dispute resolution services, including arbitration and mediation, the Forum also provides an efficient and effective service for all legal parties.
Source: 22/11/2006 07:02 GMT – ag-IP-news
ShareThis
