Domain Name Resources
A Basic Primer on Trademark Law:
Recent Court Decisions on Trademarks and Domain Names:
- Domain Name Dispute With a Twist: Pokey.org, by Kelly Flaherty, detailing recent dispute between a 12-year-old boy and Prema Toys, Inc., owners of the trademark to "Pokey" ("Gumby's" horse-shaped friend).
- Cybersell, Inc. v. Cybersell, Inc., 130 F.3d 414 (9th Cir. 1997): a good discussion and review of personal jurisdiction in domain name suits.
- Interstellar Starship Serv. Ltd. v. Epix, Inc., Civil No. 97-107-FR, 1997 WL 736486 (D. Or. Nov. 20, 1997): a declaratory judgment action (in which the parties requested that the court resolve a domain name dispute). The court finds no likelihood of confusion and the domain name owner prevails.
- Juno Online Serv. v. Juno Lighting, Inc., 979 F. Supp. 684 (N.D. Ill. 1997): addressing the defense of trademark misuse in a domain name dispute; finding no trademark infringement for merely "warehousing" domain name.
- Teletech Customer Care Mgmt., Inc. v. Tele-Tech Co., Inc., 977 F. Supp. 1407 (C.D. Cal. 1997): ruling in favor of trademark owner, based on trademark dilution.
- Planned Parenthood Fed. of Am. v. Bucci, 42 U.S.P.Q.2d 1430 (S.D.N.Y. 1997): ruling in favor of trademark owner and rejecting a First Amendment defense.
- Intermatic v. Toeppen, 947 F. Supp. 1227 (N.D. Ill. 1996): ruling against a domain name "squatter," based on a finding of trademark dilution.
- Panavision, Int'l v. Toeppen, 945 F. Supp. 1296 (C.D. Cal. 1996): ruling against a domain name "squatter," based on a finding of trademark dilution.
Some Useful Archives and Bibliographies:
Academic Articles on Domain Name Controversy:
- Ira S. Nathanson, Comment, Showdown at the Domain Name Corral: Property Rights and Personal Jurisdiction over Squatters, Poachers and other Parasites, 58 U. Pitt. L. Rev. 911 (1997): a good summary of case law and major issues.
- Dan L. Burk, Trademarks Along the Infobahn: A First Look at the Emerging Law of Cybermarks, 1 Rich J. L. & Tech. 1 (1995): a general summary of cases.
- David Loundy, A Primer on Trademark Law and Internet Addresses, 15 John Marshall J. of Computer and Info. Law 465 (1997) a primer on trademark law issues.
- Robert Shaw, Internet Domain Names: Whose Domain Is This?, Kennedy School Presentation: an interesting discussion of the lack of formal internet governance.
- Alexander Gigante, "Domain-ia": The Growing Tension between the DNS and Trademark law: discussing incompatibility between the domain name system and trademark law.
Links and Materials on Domain Name Governance & Proposals:
- U.S. Dept. of Commerce draft proposal for internet domain name governance: includes a request for comments and summaries of comments submitted.
- U.S. Patent Office policy on registering domain names as trade/service marks
- Network Solutions, Inc. home page
- InterNIC home page, including the domain name dispute policy, and the cooperative agreement with the NSF
- gTLD MOU: one proposal for domain name reform.
- OIC Annotated Version of gTLD MOU: an interesting, clause-by-clause response to the MOU.
- David Maher, Trademarks on the Internet: Who's in Charge?: a discussion of trademarks and domain names.
- Don Mitchell, et al., In Whose Domain: Name Service in Adolescence: same.
- Milton Mueller, Internet Domain Names: Privatization, Competition, and Freedom of Expression
More Court Decisions on Trademarks and Domain Names:
- Cerutti 1881 v. Cerutti, Inc., No. 95 CIV 7782, 1998 WL 3350 (S.D.N.Y Jan. 5, 1998): ruling against domain name owner, based on likelihood of confusion.
- CD Solutions, Inc. v. Tooker, 965 F. Supp. 17 (N.D. Tex. 1997): finding no personal jurisdiction in a domain name dispute.
- Zippo Mfr. Co. v. Zippo Dot Com, Inc., 952 F. Supp. 1119 (W.D. Pa. 1997): finding personal jurisdiction in a domain name dispute.
- Lockheed Martin Corp. v. Network Solutions, Inc., Case No. CV 96-7438 DDP (Anx), 1997 WL 381967 (C.D. Cal. Mar. 19, 1997): dismissing an action for contributory trademark infringement brought against NSI.
- Toys "R" Us v. Akkaoui, 40 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1836 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 29, 1996): ruling that "adultsrus.com" dilutes trademark in ToysRUs.
- Actmedia v. Active Media Int'l, No. 96C3448, 1996 WL 466527 (N.D. Ill. July 17, 1996): ruling against domain name owner based on likelihood of confusion.
- Giacolone v. Network Solutions Inc., No. C-96 20434 RPA/PVT, 1996 WL 887734 (N.D. Cal. June 14, 1996): enjoining trademark owner from using NSI's policy to suspend computer consultant's domain name registration.
- Comp Exam'r Agency v. Juris, Inc., no. 96-0213-WMB (Ctx), 1996 WL 376600 (C.D. Cal. May 22, 1996): ruling against domain name owner, based on likelihood of confusion.
- Inset Sys., Inc. v. Instruction Set, Inc., 937 F. Supp. 161 (D. Conn. 1996): finding personal jurisdiction in a domain name suit.
- Sun Microsystems v. Astro-Med, 39 U.S.P.Q.2d (BNA) 1144 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 29, 1996): holding that use of "sunriver" to sell computer products infringes on plaintiff's "sun" mark.
- Hasbro, Inc. v. Internet Enternainment Group, Ltd., No. C96-130WD, 1996 WL 84853 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 9, 1996): issuing an injunction against using candyland.com, a sexually explicit web-site, based on trademark dilution.
- Cardservice, Int'l v. McGee, 950 F. Supp. 737 (E.D. Va. 1997): ruling against domain name holder based on likelihood of confusion.