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New York Times Wins Rights to Internet Name
The publisher of The New York Times has been awarded the right to the internet domain name www.newyorktimes.com by a United Nations arbitrator.
In a recent ruling, David Plant said the name should be transferred to the New York Times Co. from the company that had registered it in 1996, New York Internet Services.
The publishers claimed that 4,000 people per week were visiting the site because they wrongly guessed the newspaper's Web address.
"The New York Times is a world famous trademark as to which (NYIS) cannot credibly claim to have been unaware," the company said in its submission to the World Intellectual Property Organization.
NYIS insisted that The New York Times had registered www.nytimes.com in 1994 and had shown no interest at that time in the longer name.
Plant ruled that the site was being used for commercial purposes because it contained links to other sites and it was provided by a company that displayed an advertising banner.
He ordered the domain name to be transferred to the New York Times Co. as soon as possible.
Anyone can register a domain name for a few dollars, which has led so-called "cybersquatters" to file for famous names to make a fast buck from those who want the names. Some names are worth millions of dollars.
The U.N. system, which started last year, allows those who think they have the right to a domain to get it back without having to fight a costly legal battle or paying large sums of money.
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