Two web design businesses in different US states trading under the
same name have been locked in a dispute over domain names. The
dispute came before the National Arbitration Forum over the .com
and .net versions of KoalaWebDesign.
Koala Web Design of Oregon said it has developed common law trade
marks (i.e. unregistered trade marks) in its name under which it
has traded since 1995. It uses the site address KoalaWeb.com. The
business brought action against a Californian company of the same
name which registered the KoalaWebDesign domain names.
The panellist, Hon. James A. Carmody, observed that the
Californian business was set up despite protest from its older
rival a few hundred miles East. He said that the Californian
business likely knew of the KoalaWeb.com site. Accordingly, the
transfer of the names to the Oregon business was ordered.
In making his decision, Carmody concluded,
“It is sad that the koala, a placid Oceanic
marsupial who preys on nothing and subsists only on the leaves of
the eucalyptus, is the subject of such a bitter and preventable
contest.”
The National Arbitration Forum is one of four bodies approved to
hear cases under the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) of
ICANN, the technical co-ordination body of the internet. The UDRP
was drawn up by ICANN as an efficient means of dealing with cases
of cybersquatting.
