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Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

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Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#21

Post by spmurrayzzz »

milliams wrote: post #3

I believe companies usually claim back 'stolen' domains with trademark claims. I wonder if the his claim that it's "Michel in Guides" will do anything to hold this claim at bay.

If I'm not mistaken, the prevailing precedent here is found in Lamparello v. Falwell ( 420 F.3d 309 4th Cir. 2005 )

"On appeal in 2005, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the earlier decisions, ruling that there was not a "likelihood of confusion" between Lamparello's and Falwell's official site; that there was no trademark infringement based on "initial interest confusion" for sites that were non-commercial and critical of the trademark holder; and since Lamparello's site was non-commercial, there was no "bad faith intent to profit" and it was not cybersquatting."[1]

Im not sure Michelin Guides has standing in this case, at least not under trademark law...

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamparello_v._Falwell

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#23

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

WA wrote: post #9

How does that even happen? My domains get renewed automatically.

Many domain registrars design their systems in such a way so that you either pay a higher price if you auto-renew (e.g. GoDaddy) or so that it is easy for auto-renew to switch off (e.g. CC expired) so they can charge you a "fee" to recover it once you realise it has been suspended.

Frankly it is in registrar's best interests to let your domain expire. You'll still pay them the renew fee either way, but additional fees loaded on top of that too.

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#24

Post by EwanToo »

WA wrote: post #9

How does that even happen? My domains get renewed automatically.

There was a story on here the other day which basically revolved around people removing their credit card details immediately after purchasing domains, to prevent auto-renewals - they managed to mishandle removing their details, and deleted the domain involved.

Some people are odd!

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#26

Post by nathanstitt »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #12
nathanstitt wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not always, and not quickly. See http://nissan.com/ for an example that's been dragging on for around 10 years or so. He's not squatting on nissan.com per se, but in my opinion is fairly close to it. It's a David vs. Goliath situation that's for sure, I'm amazed he's managed to keep the domain.

> He's not squatting on nissan.com per se, but in my opinion is fairly close to it That doesn't make sense. Sounds like you, and several other people, think that anyone who is under-utilising a domain is automatically "squatting." That the biggest user of a property is entitled to it... He runs a business, the business is called "Nissan Computer(s)." That to me is the furthest thing from squatting...

I disagree & believe it does.

Where is he advertising the business on that web site? I see it mentioned in the header but that's not even a link. Instead he's running adds for insurance on it.

In my mind it comes down to what visitors of the website expect to see. I believe that the only possible expectation for someone visiting nissan.com is to see Nissan Motors. (At least in North America, I'm aware that Nissan is a popular name etc)

I'm not saying that he's even a bad guy here. If I was in his shoes I'm sure I'd feel exactly the same, he had the name first, even before Nissan Motors existed. But, times change. Leaving aside the legal questions, I believe that there would be less confusion caused if nissan.com pointed to Nissan Motors, therefore it would be in this case a social good thing to have it be so.

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#27

Post by pc86 »

Kenan wrote: post #16
petercooper wrote: post #2

I got my full name in .co.uk from a similar mishap (there's a large car dealership in the UK called Peter Cooper, curiously). Bizarrely they never came after me or even got in touch and bought a new domain instead, though it'd have been a harder case to fight given it's my actual name.

Reminds me of the case over http://nissan.com/

You know if Nissan Motors didn't exist there would not be a gigantic advertisement on the front page.

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#28

Post by UnoriginalGuy »

ajross wrote: post #17
oellegaard wrote: post #8

They made a stupid mistake, they should not be allowed to get it back.

That's maybe going too far. Clearly this is a prank. The current owner has the right (abstractly -- honestly I have no idea how this works in French law) to express their opinion as parody, and Michelin shouldn't be able to use the trademark as a cudgel to suppress that. That said, the proper remedy here is for them to buy back the domain name at a fair market price (whatever that may be, again I have no idea). The o…

> The owner shouldn't be able to "ransom" the name for an unfair price, either.

Why? It is his property, he can do what he wants with it.

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#29

Post by darxius »

ajross wrote: post #17
oellegaard wrote: post #8

They made a stupid mistake, they should not be allowed to get it back.

That's maybe going too far. Clearly this is a prank. The current owner has the right (abstractly -- honestly I have no idea how this works in French law) to express their opinion as parody, and Michelin shouldn't be able to use the trademark as a cudgel to suppress that. That said, the proper remedy here is for them to buy back the domain name at a fair market price (whatever that may be, again I have no idea). The o…

Why not? It was their mistake, they forgot to renew a domain (something even I keep on top of). The guy bought it legally and is now hosting his own website.

I don't see how the company would have any right to get that domain back if the guy doesn't want to sell it. Then again, IANAL.

Re: Michelin Guides forgets to renew domain name, becomes "Michel in Guides"

#30

Post by pc86 »

ajross wrote: post #17
oellegaard wrote: post #8

They made a stupid mistake, they should not be allowed to get it back.

That's maybe going too far. Clearly this is a prank. The current owner has the right (abstractly -- honestly I have no idea how this works in French law) to express their opinion as parody, and Michelin shouldn't be able to use the trademark as a cudgel to suppress that. That said, the proper remedy here is for them to buy back the domain name at a fair market price (whatever that may be, again I have no idea). The o…

It's his. He can do with it what he pleases.

If he wants to keep it, it should be his prerogative. If he wants to say "I'm happy to keep it, unless you happen to have half a million Euros lying around" he should be able to do that as well.

In the end, FMP is determined by what anyone is willing to pay.

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