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

On Sat, Nov 14, 1998, Carl Oppedahl <carl[_at_]oppedahl.com> wrote:
>
> On 11/13/98, Dave Stein <dave[_at_]davestein.com> wrote:
> >
> > 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.
>
> What benefit is there to "draft papers to the Internic" since even
> if you had "won" the NSI challenge, you would not get possession of
> the domain name? When an NSI challenge is "won", the domain name
> is simply placed "on hold" forever.

In my cases, the registrants were not speculators, but fans. Many people don't know what the domain name dispute policy is and are scared enough of a draft complaint and the threat of losing the domain name rather than just forking it over. One concern with that matter was that the registrant had links to pornographic sites and our client did not want that affiliation. Even placing in on hold until a court order was obtained was surely preferable to the domain sitting out there being used for such a purpose.

Dave Stein
<dave[_at_]davestein.com> Received on Sat Nov 14 1998 - 14:42:17 GMT