Domain Emporia

BitTorrent files its own intellectual property lawsuit

Domain Name Wire — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:02:57 +0000

File sharing company files IP lawsuit over trademarks.

BitTorrent (and especially its users) are familiar with intellectual property lawsuits. But usually they’re on the receiving end.

Now the tables are turned. BitTorrent, Inc. has filed a federal lawsuit in California against BitTorrent Marketing GMBH for trademark infringement and cybersquatting.

According to BitTorrent, Inc. founder Bram Cohen, he first became aware of the defendant when it contacted him in 2003 and asked for permission to register the Bittorrent.de domain name. Cohen refused. The defendant went ahead and registered a lot of related domain names (including the .de domain) and managed to secure trademark registrations for the BitTorrent mark in Germany and Europe. When BitTorrent, Inc. tried to get its own trademarks in Europe, the defendant filed a petition to oppose BitTorrent, Inc’s trademark applications.

BitTorrent, Inc initiated litigation in Germany against BitTorrent Marketing GMBH in 2010. Now BitTorrent is bringing a case against the firm in the U.S.

According to Cohen’s lawsuit, the German company has registered hundreds of domain names that include “Bittorent”, such as the typo bitorrent.com, bittorrent.net, and bittorrent.de.

BitTorrent, Inc also says that the defendant has a history of bad activity in file sharing. It alleges the defendant has tried to usurp trademarks owned by other file sharing companies such as Kazaa and Morpheus.

Cohen’s company is suing for federal trademark infringement and cybersquatting, among other claims. On the cybersquatting claims it is asking for $100,000 per infringing domain name. Both the defendant and the respondent have filed cybersquatting claims in the past, but not against each other.

You can read the lawsuit here (large PDF).

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From the lawyer UDRP mistakes file…

Domain Name Wire — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:09:57 +0000

Don’t forget to prove earlier rights if you claim them.

Publisher Hidden Values has lost a dispute over the domain name TriangleKidsDirectory.com.

Hidden Values publishes the Kids’ Directory. It also has a registered trademark for KID’S DIRECTORY.

It’s an admittedly weak mark. It’s even a concurrent use registration that is limited in geographic scope.

But, the registrant of the domain name was a former licensee of Kids Directory and published the directory in the North Carolina “triangle”. And he didn’t respond to the dispute. So the odds were tipped in Hidden Values’ favor.

Regardless of what you think of the merits of this case and if UDRP is the proper venue for it, the case seems to have come down to when Hidden Values got trademark rights in “Kid’s Directory”. And this is where the company screwed up.

Hidden Values’ complaint mentions that it started using the mark in 1990. That’s the first-use-in-commerce date on its trademark application. But the trademark application wasn’t filed until 2005, after the respondent registered the TriangleKidsDirectory.com domain name. It should have been easy for the lawyer to show some common law rights previous to 2005 that would have been acceptable to the panel, but he dropped the ball:

“In the instant proceeding, Complainant has provided no documentary or other evidence to support the date of first use in Commerce referenced in its trademark application. This Panel therefore finds there to be a lack of evidentiary basis by which it might reasonably conclude that Complainant held rights in the KID’S DIRECTORY trademark prior to the May 12, 1995 [sic] date on which Respondent registered the disputed domain name.”

Had the company’s lawyer provided what should have been easy proof, I bet the company wins this case.

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My obligatory Facebook IPO post

Domain Name Wire — Fri, 18 May 2012 13:49:20 +0000

Every blog is supposed to write about the IPO

I’ve got to write one, right?

If religious blogs find a way to cover an IPO then a domain blog should, too.

I actually have a bit of a domain angle. This morning I googled FacebookIPO.com because I recall seeing something about the domain previously. Here’s the first result:

Facebook-IPO.com has no content whatsoever. Google still cares about exact match domain searches, even if it’s on a really esoteric search. I suspect some people will type FacebookIPO.com into their browsers today.

OK, that’s my tie-in.

Facebook is expected to start trading this morning on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol FB.

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A “monster” acquisition, iPhone 5, and Vanity.com

Domain Name Wire — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:54:37 +0000

A look at a few stories I haven’t covered this week…

There are a few notable stories in the domain name industry that I missed writing about over the past week, so here’s a quick run down.

A “monster” of an acquisition – Mesh Digital, which owns domain name registrar DomainMonster, has been acquired by Host Europe Group for an undisclosed sum. DomainMonster isn’t a huge registrar, but it has proven quite adept at mastering domain registrations when new top level domains enter their “general availability period”. This will come in handing with hundreds of TLDs coming on line in the next couple years.

iPhone5.com – Apple filed a UDRP to get iPhone5.com earlier this month. The owners put up an initial fight before deciding to hand the domain over the Apple this week.

Vanity.com – Quite a stink going on over at TheDomains about this UDRP filing. I hope there’s more to this story than meets the eye. For what it’s worth, the owner of the domain has had it since at least 2005. The company was formed in Nevada.

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Moniker Spring auction results

Domain Name Wire — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:41:38 +0000

Moniker auction nets close to $20,000 in sales.

The Moniker Premium Spring Auction at SnapNames just concluded. Here are the (unofficial) results:

drivinggloves.com 6450 – this is a recently developed site. Auction included Facebook page (with 2,000+ likes) and Twitter handle.
florists.info 3050 – good keyword, but not a bad price given how marketplace for secondary TLDs like this will change in coming years.
loaninterestrates.com 2000
obese.net 1650 – 5 bidders duked it out for this one. It was the last auction to close due to extensions.
scubadivinglessons.com 1267
bearings.net 770
alumn.com 590 – not a very common spelling of the term
njlawfirms.com 575
grilled.net 500
32a.com 470
wyvn.com 300
upcbarcodes.com 300
overnightpriority.com 300 – not to be confused with Fedex’s Priority Overnight
joggingshorts.com 300 – definitely falls under the “niche” category
attempt.net 300

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Dotster moves domains to Domain.com credentials

Domain Name Wire — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:30:49 +0000

Company transfers domains between registrar accreditations.

If you start to see domain name registrar Domain.com growing in registrar ranking reports, there’s a good explanation for that.

Dotster, which owns Domain.com, has transferred the domain names from its Dotster accreditation to the Domain.com one.

I was alerted to this change when I received a DomainTools whois change alert on a friend’s domain name that I helped her register. My first thought was that her domain had been stolen, until I remembered that Dotster owns Domain.com.

I reached out to Dotster to find out what was going on. Brian Unruh, General Manager at Dotster, told Domain Name Wire:

Through acquisitions, Dotster historically has owned many registrar credentials. We consolidated them to deliver a higher quality customer experience and better efficiency. In fact this change is just one of many that we’re making to improve the services we provide our customers. While Dotster.com’s registrations are now using the Domain.com credential, Dotster customers will remain Dotster customers and continue to receive industry leading service and care.

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Intuit buys Apps.net for 24,100 EUR among 25 end user domain sales

Domain Name Wire — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:40:05 +0000

Intuit picks up Apps.net domain name and other notable domain purchases.

The biggest name on this week’s end user domain sales report is Intuit. The company (of Quicken and Quickbooks fame) bought Apps.net for EUR 21,400 at Sedo. It already owns Apps.com. It offers Intuit Apps for many of its products.

Here are other domain name purchases by end users over the past week.

Sedo

Ad network Multi-View, Inc. made this week’s big $112,000 purchase of AHHA.com.

Travel Networks Europe Ltd, owner of rental car finder CarJet.com, paid 3,000 GPB for CarHirecover.com

Jasper Engines & Transmissions paid $2,000 for MyJapser.com.

The restaurant data company behind FoodServiceReport.com bought RestaurantData.com for $1,299.

Travel services company HOTELBEDS SPAIN, S.L.U. bought AttractionStore.com for $1,895 and ResortActivities.com for $1,295.

University of Toronto mathematician James Colliander bought CrowdMark.com for $995. It will be interesting to see what he does with it.

Afternic

Westport, Connecticut cycling/spin studio JoyRide Cycling Studio picked up JoyrideStudio.com for $1,495. It currently owns Joyride-Cycling.com and JoyrideWestport.com.

Embassy Loans bought the singular version of its domain name — EmbassyLoan.com — for $1,500.

Healthcare company Primary Care Partners in South Florida bought HealthyPartners.com for $3,788.

The Catamaran Company, seller of catamarans (a type of boat), paid $2,088 for LagoonCatamarans.com

Elite Estate Buyers Inc, which already owns EliteAuction.com, bought EliteConsignment.com for $2,088.

Business intelligence company Third Time dropped the hyphen in its domain name for $1,200 by picking up ThirdTime.com. Nice purchase.

Book publisher Health Communications, Inc, whose slogan is “The Life Issues Publisher”, bought LifeIssues.com for $8,800. Nice sale.

Godat Landscape Construction Company paid $1,388 for Godat.net.

ShortTermStays.com, an L.A. short term rental referral service, bought ShortTermStay.com for $2,100.

It appears that Lufthansa Technik has purchased LTCS.com for $2,500. The whois record for the domain doesn’t mention the company, but the registrant’s email address is LTCS.aero, which is owned by Lufthansa. The actual registrant is Gordon Weller, Sr. Director Customer Service & Account Management for the company.

Max New York Life bought MaxLifeInsurance.com for a whopping $21,000.

Affordable Power, L.P., which goes by the name APG&E, picked up APGE.com for $5,088.

The owner of Waverlyhomes.ca bought Waverlyhomes.com for $2,000.

Calgary Co-operative Association Ltd. bought YourCoop.com for $2,655.

A brand new company called Canada Carbon has purchased none other than CanadaCarbon.com for $1,995.

Instant Home Loans, Inc. d.b.a. Instant Capital, bought InstantCapital.com for a strong $14,500. Its web site is MyInstantCapital.com.

American Trash Management, a unique company whose mission is to “reduce the environmental impact, costs and problems of trash”, bought SmartTrash.com for $2,188.

Production company Flatland Pictures bought MusicProfessor.com for $1,888. Perhaps the title of an upcoming film?

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UK insurer first to lose .xxx dispute

Domain Name Wire — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:40:05 +0000

Request for .xxx domain name denied.

United Kingdom insurance company BGL Group Limited, better known as CompareTheMarket.com, is the first complainant to lose a UDRP for a .xxx domain name.

The company filed the complaint against UK resident Jon Watkins, who registered the domain back in December when .xxx became generally available.

But as I’ve argued previously, it can be rather difficult to prove bad faith in the registration of a .xxx domain name. Most complainants aren’t in the adult entertainment business. And few .xxx domain names will be parked, which could have result in PPC ads related to a complainant. So unless the mark is very famous (and not descriptive/generic) or the owner of the domain tries to sell the domain to the complainant, proving registration in bad faith isn’t easy.

That’s what happened here. A Czech Arbitration Court panel wrote:

But Complainant fails to prove bad faith registration or use of the domain. Complainant states that the domain is “completely inactive”. Complainant does not show that Respondent tried to sell the domain to Complainant, has registered other infringing names, or otherwise has tried to profit from the domain or cause any other harm to Complainant. Respondent is not shown to have had prior UDRP cases in which he has been an unsuccessful Defendant. Clearly, “compare the market” could relate to myriad different types of markets and myriad different comparisons within each one, as demonstrated by a simple web search.

I’m not quite sure why BGL went after this domain name. If it were an active domain name with porn on it and it was getting search rankings I’d understand. Otherwise this seems like a waste of money.

Companies have filed over 20 UDRP cases against .xxx domain names. None had lost prior to this case.

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Zimbabwe.com seller takes huge loss

Domain Name Wire — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:10:59 +0000

Zimbabwe.com sells for a fraction of what it sold for in 2007.

We always hear stories about people who bought domains and flipped them for many times their purchase price. But the opposite also happens.

Take the case of Zimbabwe.com, which just sold for $42,500 at Sedo.

The last time this domain (reported) sold was in 2007. Purchase price: $130,000.

It’s possible the domain also changed hands in 2008. Regardless of if it has changed hands since 2007, the domain took a total haircut of $87,500 during that period.

Not pretty.

There’s not a whole lot you can do with Zimbabwe.com from a commerce perspective other than offer elephant hunting trips.

Ideally a buyer would use the domain to help shed more light on Robert Mugabe’s atrocities.

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The inside story of Mama.com

Domain Name Wire — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:07:00 +0000

Mamma.com owner selling Mama.com.

I was originally a bit surprised to see mama.com in Moniker’s Spring Auction ending this week.

Then I realized the domain on auction is actually a typo of the once popular search engine Mamma.com — not the search engine itself. Well, sort of a typo, as I later found out.

I reached out to the founder of Mama.com owner Empresario, Omar Solis. As it turns out, his company bought the Mamma.com search engine in a deal completed in 2011. I asked him for the back story on the domain and he wrote a good explanation. Rather than chop it up, I’ve decided to publish it in full here….

The back-story:

Mamma.com was once a promising search engine from the “.com-bubble” era. It was founded in 1996 by a graduate student from Quebec Canada named Herman Tumurcuoglu. Eventually it got funded and taken public, ultimately merging with a desktop search company named Copernic in 2005. They also wanted to own the single ” m” version of their brand name and an Executive at the company acquired mama.com from a small us-based organization sometime around 2000-2001.

In 2009 we acquired the Mamma.com search and ad network assets from Copernic, which included the two domain names. Originally the deal was for $5 million, but we ended up paying $500,000 for all the assets. We took over the business in 2009, but did not take ownership until Sept 2011 when the sale was finalized with the assistance from a well-known American investor.

Although mamma.com didn’t make it to the big stage as a search engine, it still enjoyed a loyal user base from the US, Canada (especially French CA), France, and Asia. The Ad Network business was also profitable, generating several million dollars a year in revenue. Plus it came with the mama.com domain, which I knew had plenty of value in itself.

Present day:

Today we continue to operate the ad network and monetize the search engine traffic from mamma.com, which has proven to be a steady revenue business. In addition we operate a business incubator called Empresario.com, where we work with nimble entrepreneurs to create new value from our business platforms. Predominately working with online publishers, advertisers, and agencies that leverage our resources to advance their own business.

Our plan this year is to develop our incubator business further, so we decided to systematically dismantle and sell assets that did not directly support our current goals. After the mamma.com deal was finalized in Sept, we took a step back and evaluated the business from top to bottom. What we uncovered was a nice cache of Internet assets that no longer supported our objectives, but had tremendous value.

A good portion of these assets came in the form of premium domain names that we acquired over the years and have been sitting on parked pages. A while back we did well in domain parking but after 2009 our revenue channels became more diverse and parking was overlooked. In regards to selling domains, we have always entertained offers and have sold many domain names over the years, but have never made it a full-blown effort like we are doing now.

Coincidentally, at the end of 2011 we started receiving serious 6-figure offers for mama.com, mostly interest from China and Japan where our largest offers have originated. As we drilled further into the analysis, we figured out that all the type-in users that went to mama.com, were looking for “female/maternal” topics and not a search engine. Separating and selling mama.com from mamma.com started making sense.

Also the sale includes the Twitter handle @mama, which will give this deal a unique twist. I have have not heard of many domain sales that also included the related Twitter handle, which these days is an excellent value-add.

Currently we are focused on the mama.com sale, but we have also put up a sample of 36 premium domain names from our portfolio that are currently available for sale via our site. In the next few weeks will place the rest of our portfolio on Sedo & Snapnames, except for a few exclusives that will only be offered on our website.

Hopefully mama.com will sell via Moniker’s auction this week, but regardless we will continue to push the sale this year, as we are eager to focus on our core business.

You can reach Solis here.

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VL.com Domain Name Stolen, Too. Here’s the Inside Story.

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