Domain and Trademark Blog

Having a great domain name helps businesses build their brands, it has been claimed.
Writing for Drop Ship, Hope Whitley said domain names are crucial because they are the first thing a consumer finds out about an online organization.
She said having a strong Web address helps make a site more memorable to people as well.
“Identify your …

A T-shirt seller is being sued for trademark infringement for alleged misuse of “The Terrible Towel” mark.
Sports broadcaster Myron Cope invented the towel, a yellow-and-black cloth often waved by Pittsburgh Steelers fans, in the 1970s.
He gave the trademark to the Allegheny Valley School, which caters to young disabled students, in 1996, but the football club …

A reuniting 80s pop act will be forced to change its name after losing a trademark dispute.
Three of the original members of the British band, Bucks Fizz, who sold four million copies of their 1981 smash hit “Making Your Mind Up,” are readying to perform a series of concerts together.
However, fourth member Robert Gubby — …

Plans to set up a foundation in the name of the late singer Amy Winehouse may have stalled — because of a cybersquatter.
Hours after the “Back to Black” singer was found dead in July 2011, her father Mitch Winehouse announced plans to establish a foundation for drug addicts in her name.
However, later that day, British …

A three-year trademark infringement battle has ended with a federal jury ruling against the restaurant chain Firehouse Subs, it has been reported.
In a unanimous decision, the jury decided in favor of the Myrtle Beach, S.C., business Calli Baker’s Firehouse Bar & Grill, which had also been claiming rights to the ‘firehouse’ mark.
The panel ruled that …

The number of .org domain names has now passed the nine million mark, it has been reported.
According to The Dashboard — a biannual report on .org domain names — there were 9.2 million organizations using the Web address extension at the end of June 2011.
This represented a net gain of around 350,000 registrations during the …

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has encountered further criticism over its generic top level domain name (gTLD) plan.
Earlier this month, the Association of National Advertisers warned that allowing businesses to register any domain name suffix of their choosing would be bad for global trade.
And the Interactive Advertising …

A brewing company has failed in its bid to secure a trademark for the term ’shandy’.
The Moutere Brewing Co made its application after being frustrated at the decision to grant one of its rivals a trademark for the term ‘radler’, reports the Nelson Mail.
Radler is the traditional German name for shandy – an …

An appeal against the US government’s domain name seizure policy has been rejected, it has been reported.
Over the past year, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has assumed control of a number of websites used to support suspected illegality.
One of the affected parties – Puerto 80, the owners of Rojadirecta.com and …

A Texas energy firm stands accused of registering two domain names for the express purpose of cybersquatting.
According to the Dallas Business Journal, two lawsuits have been filed against Christopher Faulkner, chief executive of Breitling Oil and Gas Corp.
Dallas-based Fusion Energy LLC has taken exception to the registration of the domain names …