Technology Law Update: 14 Oct 1996

New Developments in Technology Law and the Online World. See also Computer Lawyer News.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has held in Intermatic Inc. v. Toeppen that trademark dilution resulted from the unauthorized use by the defendant of a domain name that was identical to plaintiff's registered trademark. Toeppen, who operates an internet service provider business called Net66 (http://www.net66.com/) had previously registered approximately 240 Internet domain names corresponding to well known trademarks.

While this case reinforces the ability of a trademark owner to register and control the use of an identical domain name, it is often cheaper for the trademark owner to pay the blackmail as opposed to fighting it out in court.
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the body responsible for setting technical standards on the Internet, has finalized a plan to establish additional "top level" domain name registries. Starting in early 1997, users will have more choices for designating their web sites in addition to the current familiar (.gov, .com, .edu, .org, etc) three letter combinations. The parallel registries will be administered by organizations other than Network Solutions Inc. in order to introduce competition and help keep prices at a fair level.
On September 9, 1996, NSI implemented a revised domain name policy. One of the changes is that in event of a dispute over a domain name, NSI will no longer give any preference to a trademark registration obtained by a domain name holder after a dispute has arisen.

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