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Re: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
Hi Mike,
Actually, the UDRP makes my case: registrations are PERMITTED and
only taken away AFTER-THE-FACT, when wrong doing has been shown.
The point is not about "activation", but rather "registration".
Sure, you can establish bad faith after a registration but before
activation based on the facts and circumstances of the situation
(registering a domain that includes a TM and then sending a letter to
the TM owner saying if they want it they gotta pay you big bucks to
get it). But it is still a USE based analysis, not something that
can be determined before registration in order to deny a registration.
Remember the Taubman v. Webfeats case [319 F.3d 770 (6th Cir. 2003)]:
"If [defendant's] use is commercial, then, and only then, do we
analyze his use for a likelihood of confusion." The court
continues: "Even if [defendant's] use is commercial speech, i.e., "in
connection with the sale . . . or advertising of any goods or
services," and within the jurisdiction of the Lanham Act, there is a
violation only if his use also creates a likelihood of confusion
among customers. 15 U.S.C. 1114(1). Moreover, the only important
question is whether there is a likelihood of confusion between the
parties' goods or services. Bird v. Parsons, 289 F.3d 865, 877 (6th
Cir. 2002). Under Lanham Act jurisprudence, it is irrelevant whether
customers would be confused as to the origin of the websites, unless
there is confusion as to the origin of the respective products. See
also Daddy's Junky Music Stores, 109 F.3d at 280."
This is just the first case that comes to mind. Briefly, here is
another: Cline v. 1-888-PLUMBING, 146 F. Supp. 2d 351 (S.D.N.Y.
2001). The court held that merely registering a domain name likely to
be confused with a registered trademark was not enough to infringe
upon the mark, as it was not a “use in commerce” of the mark. “In the
context of domain names, parties encroach on a registrant’s rights
under […] the Lanham Act not when they reserve a domain name […] but
when they use it.” Id. at 369.
**** THEREFORE, I propose that we amend our statement, so that only
"technical confusion" is the type of confusion that we deal with.
Otherwise, not only are we in contrast with legal norms, we are also
outside the scope of ICANN's authority.
Thank you, Robin
On Feb 11, 2008, at 4:54 AM, Mike Rodenbaugh wrote:
There are plenty of UDRP decisions holding that domain names can be
registered in bad faith, even if not activated. The fact the
domain is registered in effort to extract money from TM owner, and/
or deprives TM owner of ability to use the name, is enough. I am
pretty certain there are also US court precedents on that point at
least as well, and would bet they exist in other jurisdictions at
this point too. So, with respect, I think Professor Farley is
incorrect. ICANN’s scope of authority includes mitigation of
likelihood of consumer confusion in any sense, that was settled
with enactment and entrenchment of the UDRP as a purported remedy.
Interested to hear more about the font idea, as I don’t immediately
see how that will help.
Thanks,
Mike
From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-
council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robin Gross
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 4:36 AM
To: Chuck Gomes
Cc: Council GNSO
Subject: Re: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
Chuck,
I agree with you that trademarks are only a subset of "confusingly
similar". The point is that trademarks are outside of the realm of
technical confusion, and only technical confusion should be
included within the "confusingly similar" issue since that is all
that is within ICANN's scope of authority.
I disagree that international law says that domain names, without
any analysis of their use, can be considered confusingly similar.
Please remember the presentation that Professor Christine Haight
Farley, American University international trademark law expert,
gave to us in San Juan, where she attempted to explain this key
point in detail.
Her paper is online at: http://ipjustice.org/wp/2007/06/06/
farley-legal-briefing/
and the video of her presentation is at: http://www.keep-the-
core-neutral.org/node/31
It is a mistake for us to continue to expand trademark rights in
domain names beyond the scope of rights that trademark law
grants. So I can't support a GNSO position that does this.
Another suggestion that was provided at our dinner table last night
was that a better way to deal with confusion caused by similar
script characters (such as the "paypal example") is by the
creation of new FONTS that make the characters more distinct and
thus eliminate this type of confusion through a software fix
(rather than by expanding trademark rights). I agree that we
should explore this approach.
Thanks,
Robin
On Feb 11, 2008, at 4:00 AM, Gomes, Chuck wrote:
Recommendation 2 (confusingly similar) does not necessarily relate
to trademarks although that could be a subset. The detailed
discussion we included for this was taken from international law
relating to trademarks but the intent was to apply the requirement
on broader basis, in particularly for existing gTLDs that do not
have any trade mark rights.
Chuck
From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-
council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Robin Gross
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 12:50 AM
To: Council GNSO
Subject: Re: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
The same issue was raised at my table by the board members. The
feeling was "if two countries are going to start a war over a
domain name, that is their problem. They must pick 1 name." I
think there is merit to this view. It was also mentioned that
Chinese is a script that is used by a large community in just about
EVERY country in the world, so does this mean every country gets a
script in Chinese? In the US alone, there are large language
communities for probably 10 scripts, giving the US 10 scripts under
our rule. I do not believe this is what we intended.
And a few other points were raised that need to be dealt with. In
particular, the recommendation that "strings must not be
confusingly similar" is misplaced. Only technical confusion is the
type that should be dealt with here, not general confusion. I
agree. This recommendation really does not make sense from a
trademark viewpoint (although that is how it is intended), since a
domain name, by itself, does not cause confusion, but only with
relation to how the domain is used. We are going well beyond
technical stability and trying to regulate other things that are
outside ICANN's authority.
Perhaps we should give more thought to our recommendations before
we vote on them. I found the feedback from the board to be
enormously useful and we should try to address their concerns
before voting.
Thanks,
Robin
On Feb 10, 2008, at 7:39 PM, Norbert Klein wrote:
I also agree with Avri's suggestion, where others already consented.
At the table I was - and I later talking to people from another
table - there
was opposition to the "One IDNccTLD per one script per one language
group": "their government should decide to choose just one."
I was surprised about the lack of sensitivity on the political/
social/cultural
implications. I argued - as a example - saying that it would be highly
destructive in the presently tense situation, if the Malaysian
government
would give preference to the Chinese over against the Indian ethnic
sections
of the society by allocating only one IDNccTLD, but this was dismissed
as "not ICANN's problem."
Norbert
-
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Subject: RE: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
Date: Monday, 11 February 2008
From: "Edmon Chung" <edmon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'Council GNSO'" <council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Agreed.
Edmon
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-
council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Adrian Kinderis
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:11 AM
To: Avri Doria; Council GNSO
Subject: RE: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
The same issue was raised at our table Avri.
I believe your suggested change would be appropriate.
Regards,
Adrian Kinderis
--
If you want to know what is going on in Cambodia,
please visit us regularly - you can find something new every day:
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com
Agreed.
Edmon
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-
council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Adrian Kinderis
Sent: Monday, February 11, 2008 10:11 AM
To: Avri Doria; Council GNSO
Subject: RE: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
The same issue was raised at our table Avri.
I believe your suggested change would be appropriate.
Regards,
Adrian Kinderis
Managing Director
AusRegistry Group Pty Ltd
Level 8, 10 Queens Road
Melbourne. Victoria Australia. 3004
Ph: +61 3 9866 3710
Fax: +61 3 9866 1970
Email: adrian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Web: www.ausregistrygroup.com
The information contained in this communication is intended for the
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-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:owner-
council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Avri Doria
Sent: Monday, 11 February 2008 12:59 PM
To: Council GNSO
Subject: [council] Response to ccNSO/GAC Issues report
Hi,
At my table this evening, we had a conversation about Executive
summary point #5 - specifically the last phrase "... without GNSO's
concurrence"
While explaning it this, I explained that it really refered to the
need to have have resolved the issue as explained in #2 and the ICANn
community had achieved a common agreement of an interim procedure.
I am wondering whether we might be to change it to say: " without
prior community concurrence"
thanks
a.
IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org e: robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org e: robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
IP JUSTICE
Robin Gross, Executive Director
1192 Haight Street, San Francisco, CA 94117 USA
p: +1-415-553-6261 f: +1-415-462-6451
w: http://www.ipjustice.org e: robin@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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