
So if I register Mike.com can I have Nike done for cybersquatting?
I obviously can't think of anything funny to say coz its been a long week so I'm off t'pub
Gumtree has taken ownership of the Guntree web domain after dot-UK registry Nominet ruled that the classified ads webite for guns and ammunition was similar enough to Gumtree to constitute an “abusive registration”. Guntree, as its name strongly suggests, is a classified ads website that allows users to place adverts for …
Let's hope that they already have "Guntree.uk" and the many other possible combinations registered and ready to go.
It's ridiculous to suggest that anyone would confuse a business that sells guns with one that doesn't. Alternatively there is always PieceBay, PrayPal, etc. etc to be had....
Microsoft vs. MikeRoweSoft was a legal dispute between Microsoft and a Canadian Belmont High School student named Mike Rowe over the domain name "MikeRoweSoft.com".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._MikeRoweSoft
I laughed when I first read this, then I was pulling for the kid.
David and Goliath... so on and so forth.
From the armchair peanut gallery, I don't always disagree with powers that be, but this time, yes, it is a bad decision which will have bad consequences if seen as a precedent. Internet space is not the same as trademark space.
For chuckles, I googlooked up gun and tree in Afrikaans. It's geweer and boom. Probably too obscure for most English speakers to remember. The multi-lingual boomboom dot com gives this landing message:
"BoomBoom.com ....
Arriving 2016"
I hope that didn't gun up my browser.
"“The Complainant notes that the words 'gumtree' and 'guntree' are identical save for the letters 'm' and 'n', adding that this difference is found in the middle of each word and that both start with the same letters."
Ok, Ok, give him his gold star already!
Of course the guy with the deepest pocket wins.
Owners of any domain that includes an M or N is now at risk or else looking for who they can bust using the precedent. The decision should be based on whether the variant is being used in a manner to compete with the complainant or other indicators of ill-will like copying style and presentation of the site.
Now to go a bit off topic:
You may be familiar with the big department store off Red Square in Moscow
It's called GUM (Glavny Universalny Magazin) - they don't sell trees so gumtree can stand down their lawyers.
However there were rumors that they might go into partnership with eBay for a new project, effectively offering GUM surplus inventory over the internet, auction-style.
They were looking to test the concept in a limited geographical region.
South Yorkshire was once known colloquially as The Soviet Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire on account of the political leanings of the local authority and there remain strong links with Russia.
That seemed like a promising test-bed.
The project was to be called...
...
...
Ebay Gum
(apologies to readers not familiar with the Yorkshire dialect)
I still think it's a bad decision, even after all the hate. Here's a chance to downvote some more, lawyer-lovers.
Yes, it would be ironic if GUM (which translates to State General Store), using this case as precedent, got gumtree to vacate its domain. GUMtree could actually mean something in Russian (GUM three), which would strengthen the Russians' putative (see what I did there?) case. IANAL, but it strikes me that the Russians' case, had it been launched in a timely manner, is stronger than the one that is the subject of this article.
...when the restriction on bare .uk domain names is lifted and everyone with a .co.uk who hasn't bought the variant finds some piece of **** has used the variant in a way disadvantageous to the .co.uk version.
But of course quite ready to transfer it to you for ££ - or would you prefer to hire a lawyer £££££. Even just taking the dispute through Nominet DRS can reach £3k so you're better to pay the scammer half that.
Meanwhile just off to buy mommynet, obviously a web site for moms and totally not remotely like any domain name registry that might have a similar sounding name.