Date: Fri, 17 Sep 1999 10:22:41 -0400
From: Rachel Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
COMMUNICATIONS-RELATED HEADLINES for SEPTEMBER 17, 1999
COPYRIGHT
Judges Pick David Over Goliath in Domain Name Suits (CyberTimes)
Issue: Copyright
While the courts have tended to side with large trademark holders in many
Internet domain name cases, a Boston judge has recently ruled in favor of
the little guy in such a suit. Hasbro, the giant toy maker, had charged
Clue Computing, a tiny Colorado-based computer consultant, with trademark
infringement and dilution for registering the "clue.com" domain name. In
this case Hasbro had to prove that the well-known trademark for its board
game "Clue" was inherently diminished by Clue Computing's use of the domain
name. Judge Douglas P Woodlock was not convinced, finding that the
legitimate competing use of the domain name is not dilution. "Holders of a
famous mark are not automatically entitled to use that mark as their domain
name; trademark law does not support such a monopoly," the judge wrote.
Carl Oppedahl, an intellectual property lawyer based in Colorado, predicts
that the ruling in this case is "going to help domain-name owners avoid
being panicked by cease-and-desist letters [from large trademark holders].
It should give should give them courage."
[SOURCE: CyberTimes, AUTHOR: Carl S. Kaplan]
(http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/09/cyber/cyberlaw/17law.html)
