Recent Trademark Cases Examine Reverse Domain Name Hijacking

Authors

Carl Oppedahl

Abstract

The outcome of a domain name dispute can fall anywhere along a spectrum. Some courts grant strong remedies against domain name owners, while others find no liability for domain name owners with common or generic dictionary words that are used by many companies. For every highly visible "strong remedies" case in which the trademark owner chose to go to federal court, there have been dozens of unpublicized cases in which the challenger went to the "court" of Network Solutions, Inc. instead. This article focuses on the three recent cases in which domain name owners, faced with NSI decisions in favor of challengers, brought court actions to block NSI cutoffs. In each of these cases, a court reversed NSI's decision and ruled that the domain name owner was innocent of any wrongdoing and was entitled to keep its domain name.

Recommended Citation

Carl Oppedahl, Recent Trademark Cases Examine Reverse Domain Name Hijacking, 21 UC Law SF Comm. & Ent. L.J. 535 (1999).
Available at: https://repository.uclawsf.edu/hastings_comm_ent_law_journal/vol21/iss3/1