Re: Open letter to Kelsey Grammer: the Internet is not a trademark-free zone

On Fri, Nov 13, 1998, Rich Wiggins <wiggins[_at_]msuvm3.cl.msu.edu> wrote:
>
> Last night, Kelsey Grammer was on the Tonight Show, and he told
> Jay Leno that he'd started a Web site, kelseylive.com.
>
> Jay, apparently being an astute Internaut, suggested that Kelsey
> ought to have set it up as kelseygrammer.com.
>
> Kelsey replied that someone had already registered his name
> as a .com address, and that that someone wanted money for
> Kelsey to buy his own name back, and that he was unwilling to
> pay the amount wanted, so he was going to go with kelseylive.
>
> I checked this morning, and sure enough, kelseygrammer.com
> is registered to a group called "Friend to Friend Foundation."
> They proclaim:
>
> This particular site on the World Wide Web has been
> registered on behalf of the specific individual
> referred to by the domain name. It is reserved for
> their exclusive use.
>
> They dress it up as if they're benevolent friends, but if
> Kelsey's got the story right, they're just domain speculators.
>
> I've never been fond of the Internic's ready willingness to
> bow to big corporations who hold trademarks -- I think
> the roadrunner.com case was a travesty -- but it's hard to
> imagine how domain speculators in Kansas could own Kelsey's
> name. Shouldn't he just apply to the Internic for reassignment
> to him based on his trade name? Does he need to register a
> trademark in order to prevail?
>
> (Oh, and by the way, Kelsey, lose the swimsuit photo.)

According to the Internic's domain name dispute policy, one must have a REGISTERED trademark to be able to claim a previously registered domain name. The date of first use in the trademark application must predate the domain name registration.

I have twice obtained names back from fans for celebrities. In one case, it was a simple letter (which was good, since there wasn't a registered trademark). In the other case, we had to prepare a draft complaint and draft papers to the Internic before the lawyer for the registrant would give over the name. In that case there was a pre-existing trademark and service mark for the name.

Dave Stein
<dave[_at_]davestein.com> Received on Fri Nov 13 1998 - 15:14:30 GMT