Author name: fairwindsp

Steve Levy ⬥ October 14 A recent UDRP case demonstrates that businesses are not the only ones concerned about protecting their brands and reputations online. Yale University recently filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in an attempt to recover the domain name yaleuniversity.com. In this case, the university, widely considered to

By Josh Bourne In early August 2014, ICANN published a commissioned study from Interisle on domain name collision (covered in more detail in this blog entry here) that put into question the timeline to delegation for a number of applications. This week’s report sets up a path forward for those applications and lifts some –

Josh Bourne ⬥ October 10 As the use of social media networks continue to increase, social media squatting – or “brand bombing” – appears to be on the rise as well. Ray-Ban is the most recent brand to be affected by a social squatting on Instagram. In mid-September, a fake Instagram account with the username

Steve Levy ⬥ October 7 An otherwise unremarkable UDRP case over the domain name buying-duty-free-newport-cigarettes.info holds a valuable lesson for brand owners. While the UDRP is a great tool and a key component of any domain name strategy, it’s not always worth the time and expense of going after a domain name that simply isn’t

Josh Bourne ⬥ October 4 ICANN is now allowing applicants for generic-termed top-level domains (TLDs) – unbranded extensions such as .MUSIC or .SHOP – to move forward if applicants are willing to sign the current Registry Agreement (RA) “as is”. But there’s a catch. Because the RA includes a clause that prohibits generic-termed TLDs from

Steve Levy ⬥ September 30 Pursuing bad actors who sell counterfeit goods is a major goal for brands looking to protect their reputations. There are, of course, consumers who will actively sacrifice quality for price and pursue counterfeit goods. But while brands need to address this, it’s particularly important to shut down sites that could

Josh Bourne ⬥ September 25 From time to time, we have observed that companies can be overzealous in protecting their trademarks, actually damaging their brand as they try to preserve its integrity. The Jessica Alba backed Honest Company may be the latest in that category. The company describes itself as “a trusted source for stylish,

Steve Levy ⬥ September 23 A recent UDRP case came to my attention over the domain name 14oz.com. The complaint, which was denied, was filed by BREAD & Butter GmbH & Co. (complainant) against Paul E. Grindle (respondent) via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center. The complainant in this case is

Steve Levy ⬥ September 16 Internet giant Google, despite having what must surely be an almost unlimited legal budget and no qualms about taking its foes to court, continues to make good use of the UDRP again and again. Not only does this demonstrate Google’s domain name savvy, but also the fact that the UDRP