November 19, 2001
17:50
Decisions in Domain Name Dispute Cases Demonstrate
Inconsistencies According to Law Offices of Stephen H. & Associates,
PC
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WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 19, 2001--Two recent
decisions involving the domain names "rentright.com" and
"datatrail.com" show that arbitrators utilize different legal
analyses that result in contradictory holdings in domain name
dispute proceedings, according to Stephen H. , a
Washington, DC lawyer who represented the defendants in both
of the disputes. "The decisions demonstrate some
inconsistencies in the decision-making process. In both cases
we submitted identical legal arguments regarding the issue of
whether the other parties had trademark rights in the names.
The decisions in the two cases demonstrate that the
arbitrators used different considerations in evaluating the
issues and in making their decisions. Although my clients won
in both of the cases, the decisions on the trademark issue
were contradictory."
In a recent presentation before the annual meeting of the
American Intellectual Property Law Association, Mr. described the
inconsistencies in domain name dispute decisions as being
frequent and unfortunate. He pointed out that "initiatives are
being undertaken to modify the domain name dispute resolution
process to bring about more uniformity and predictability."
In the "rentright.com" case the arbitrator determined that
the complainant did not have rights to the disputed name since
a secondary meaning had not been proven - despite the fact
that there were more than 7,000 users of its RentRight product
as a result of extensive advertising since 1997. The
arbitrator stated that "(t)o have protectable common law
trademark rights, Complainant must prove secondary meaning or
inherent distinction."
In the second case of "datatrail.com", the arbitrator
decided that the complainant did have protectable rights in
the word "datatrail" although the word had only been used in a
limited capacity for three months. The decision did not make
any mention of the issue of secondary meaning.
The full text of the decisions can be viewed at
http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/99675.htm
http://www.arbforum.com/domains/decisions/99767.htm
The website for Stephen H. , attorney for the successful domain
name owners is http://www.domainnamedisputelawyers.com/
The website of ICANN, the governing body of the Internet is
http://www.icann.org/
CONTACT: Law Offices of Stephen H. & Associates, PC
Stephen H. , Esquire, 202/393-8033