Author name: fairwindsp

FairWinds Partners ⬥ 11 August Twenty-four new gTLD applications that had been in limbo because of potential name collision issues are now moving forward thanks to welcome action by the New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC). The NGPC’s approval of a mitigation plan to deal with name collisions not only releases 24 applications that ICANN had […]

Yvette Miller ⬥ 28 July Business-to-consumer online sales worldwide will increase by nearly 20 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to eMarketer. That will bring total global ecommerce to $1.471 trillion in 2014, and eMarketer predicts that number will climb to $2.356 trillion by 2018. The increasing importance of all things digital is well covered

Steve Levy ⬥ 28 July Remember how often I’ve said it’s important to hire counsel experienced with the UDRP and all of its nuances? At least one brand owner and one law firm in Denmark haven’t gotten the message. In the recent case of Dealhunter A/S v. Richard Chiang, WIPO Case No. D2014-0766, the domain

Yvette Miller ⬥ 21 July Some of Sony’s gaming websites, including soe.com and SonyOnline.net, stopped working last week. Instead of seeing content, users found placeholder pages. What followed is a reminder of the importance of maintaining a well-honed domain name portfolio, domain name registration process, and tactical support. Unhappy gamers took to Twitter to tease

Steve Levy ⬥ 21 July I rarely comment on FairWinds’ own cases, but this one, filed with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) on behalf of DD IP Holder LLC (Dunkin’ Donuts) over dunkin.menu – is worth special mention due to the truly inventive but deceitful way in which the respondent defended his registration and use

FairWinds Partners ⬥ 18 July ICANN’s 51st public meeting in its hometown Los Angeles in October is coming into focus just as ICANN 50 in London recedes into the past. But the two meetings will share a number of issues in common. The topics that permeated the London meeting – the future structure of ICANN

Yvette Miller ⬥ 30 June Here are some data to consider when thinking about the future battle between .SOCCER, .FUTBOL, and .FOOTBALL (read more about that here). Last Thursday’s game between the U.S. and German teams topped 10.77 million viewers, just shy of the 18.22 million who tuned in to the U.S. versus Portugal game

Steve Levy ⬥ 30 June Have you ever visited a dentist who went after every possible cavity with his drill – all in one visit? In this week’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) decision, Delta Dental appears to have gone after every possible respondent – nine, to be exact – in one complaint.  This type

Yvette Miller ⬥ 26 June Timelines get pushed back, constituencies raise their voices, and ICANN sits up to listen – here is some of the latest coming out of ICANN 50. The ICANN Board has not and will not pass any resolutions relating to name collision this week. It is expected that the ICANN Board

Steve Levy ⬥ 23 June This week’s World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) decision began when a Russian mobile app developer, a Hong Kong-based wall poster company, and a UDRP panelist walked into a bar. Okay, okay – I’ll spare you the sad attempt at an IP joke, but this week’s decision does involve the above-mentioned

Yvette Miller ⬥ 23 June As predicted, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ public meeting in London is focused on the issue of ICANN accountability. The word from the FairWinds team on the ground at ICANN 50 is that ICANN’s responsibility to be accountable for policy decisions and technical coordination of the Internet

Yvette Miller ⬥ 30 May ICANN has updated its auction schedule for resolving outstanding Contention Sets, or groups of applications for the same or similar new top-level domains (TLDs) like .COUPON and .MOM. The first auction will still be held on June 4, but now only one auction will be held in the month of