Quebec Loses Quebec.com in Arbitration

The Government of Québec has lost a case against Anything.com, Ltd, the owner of Quebec.com at World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Anything.com , Ltd purchased the disputed domain name back in 1998,according to whois records. The Panel concluded that Anything.com used the domain name to provide information and links to goods offered in Quebec.

” In the present case, Respondent has adopted a geographic indicator as its domain name and has sought to put it to good use in providing links to various information and commercial sites offering goods and services in or related to Quebec.

Respondent’s current website carried links to information services such as maps, directions and driving instructions and also links to sites offering hotel and flight bookings, other travel related businesses and a few other services such as immigration visas. It is true as Complainant says that some of the links do not relate specifically or exclusively to Quebec, but a fair reading of the website leaves no doubt that it is a site for goods and services offered in Quebec and in Montreal in particular.

The Panel’s overall assessment of the way that Respondent is using the Disputed Domain Name is that it is using the Disputed Domain Name in its geographic sense, i.e. that it deals with goods and services available in and specifically related to the region. If Respondent were pretending to be Complainant itself, if its website purported to offer governmental services, if it laid some claim to speak on behalf of the region or to be an authoritative voice on governmental or municipal matters, or if it sought to mislead Internet users as to the true nature of the site, the outcome may well have been different.”

Moreover, the Panel concluded that the domain name was not registered and used in bad faith:

“If this were its intention it has had 15 years to get up a website to suggest that it was the website of the Government of Quebec, but it has not done so. Its website makes no suggestion that it is the Government of Quebec, that it is modeling itself on the government, that it has any authority in governmental affairs or that it is in any other way trying to induce in a visitor the false notion that it is anything other than the commercial site that it plainly is.

Again, the Panel must also ask whether, if there is no direct evidence, are there nevertheless other matters from which it may be inferred that this was the intention of Respondent. The fact that Respondent appears to have kept strictly to promoting its own interests, namely commercial links, suggests that there are no such matters from which such an inference may be drawn.”

You can see here the decision

.Qpon Announces Sunrise Period and General Availability

dotCOOL, Inc. announced its 30-day Sunrise Period for the .Qpon Top Level Domain (TLD) on April 2, 2014 15:01:00 UTC. General Availability opens to the public for .Qpon domain names on May 6, 201415:01:00 UTC.

 

Couponing will never be the same again.  No longer will consumers have to search endlessly to find savings! Finally, there is “Direct Couponing” brought to you by .Qpon. Save Direct and Save Fast! Consumers know “what” they want to buy and “where” they like to shop. Now, simply go directly to the merchant .Qpon website and find your savings Fast!

The consumer benefits:

Everyone would like to pay less for whatever they are buying. Currently, finding coupons, coupon codes, and offers is very time consuming and it’s not worth the time and effort of hunting down the deal. “The Juice isn’t worth the squeeze!” Imagine how easy it would be if you were going to Staples for office supplies and you simply went to Staples.Qpon and all of their coupons were conveniently listed on their BrandName.Qpon website. You print, email or text the coupon, and off you go to the store – quick and easy!

The merchant benefits:

.Qpon provides a cost efficient advertising venue for all product & service companies. Whether you’re a restaurant, limo service or a grocery store, under $20 a year to reach your customers and get them in the door is a very reasonable marketing expense. Merchants will no longer have to spend money on printing coupons for mailers, which only has a 1% response rate at best. With .Qpon, the consumer knows where to find your deals, and business drives through your door.

Price Comparison:

Price Comparison is another benefit to the consumer. If a consumer wants to see who has better deals on Laptops, Cameras, Cell phones etc. before going to the store, the consumer can do a quick check at each of the stores .Qpon websites, compare prices and head out the door.

Coupon code sites:

Most of the time coupon code websites don’t work or they’re expired. If a consumer is at the merchants .Qpon website, they can depend on the coupon code to work.  Since the merchants don’t have to pay these 3rd party coupon code websites a fee for driving traffic to the merchants flagship website, the merchant saves money; and can pass that savings on to the consumer.

Current Broken Methods:

    Print – too many sheets of separation – not what the consumer wants.
    Search engines – unorganized mess
    Coupon code sites – often invalid or expired

.Qpon Benefits:

    Dedicated for Qpons – Consumers know exactly what they’re going to find.
    Saves consumers time finding deals
    Easily compare prices
    Easy to spell
    No user-confusion like other TLDs with singular -plural confusion issues.
    The merchant saves money and the consumer saves money.

ICANN Releases New gTLD Contracting Statistics Till 28 March

Below are the key Contracting statistics, as of 28 March 2014:

 

New gTLD Pass 390,000 Domain Name Registrations

According to zone files, the number of new gTLD registrations passed 390,000. The exact number is 391,420 in 49 new gTLD strings.

 

Here are the new gTLDs stats that are into proper general aavailability :

.guru     46,458
.berlin     42,827
.photography     29,896
.tips     17,318
.today     17,302
.email     13,800
.technology     12,114
.company     11,661
.directory     11,084
.clothing     9,651
.land     9,549
.bike     9,468
.center     9,217
.gallery     9,131
.estate     8,267
.photos     8,123
.solutions     7,645
.equipment     6,783
.singles     6,231
.sexy     5,985
.ruhr     5,633
.ventures     5,228
.academy     5,195
.systems     5,159
.graphics     4,657
.training     4,421
.uno     4,355
.support     4,267
.holdings     4,123
.lighting     4,088
.plumbing     3,872
.construction     3,772
.management     3,745
.careers     3,695
.domains     3,676
.camera     3,561
.contractors     3,259
.kitchen     3,108
.menu     3,079
.shoes     3,070
.enterprises     2,646
.diamonds     2,530
.computer     2,077
.voyage     1,917
.recipes     1,854
.cab     1,707
.limo     1,509
.tattoo     1,365
.builders     1,342

Google Wins Ten Android – Related Domain Names in Arbitration

Google won the UDRP case it brought seeking transfer of ten Android – related domain names. The company submitted the complaint with the National Arbitration Forum on February 3,2014.

 

The ten disputed domain names are :

androidsecurityfree.org
androidadblocker.com
androidbatterybooster.net
androidbatterybooster.org
androidphoneguard.com
androidspeedbooster.com
androidutilityapps.org
battery-updates-android.com
battery-updates-android.net
everything-android.org

Google owns many trademark registrations for the “Android” mark all over the world. Therefore,it is more than obvious that the disputed domain names are confusingly similar to its trademark.Moreover,the company managed to demonstrate that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interest in the disputed domain names and that the respondent used the domain names in bad faith .

The arbitrator assigned to the case ruled in favor of Google,indicating that the company has full rights to the disputed domain names .The respondent’s loss was also partly due to the fact that he failed to submit a response in this proceeding ,accepting these way Google’s allegations as fact .

You can read the decision here .