Firm Sues Telepathy to Get PLA.com Domain Name

Firm got trademark for “PLA”, sues to get domain name.

If you have a short list of “nice guys” in the domain name industry, Nat Cohen of Telepathy certainly shows up near the top.

A firm called Project Leadership Associates Inc. is now trying to sue Telepathy to get the domain name PLA.com. Those are the firm’s initials, and it states it has a registered trademark.

PLA tried to negotiate with Cohen to buy the domain, and as stated by PLA’s court filing it looks like they made some progress. But then PLA decided to sue.

PLA’s claims are a joke. Among them, it suggests that Cohen ought to have told them that he had “just recently” purchased the domain name (a few years ago):

On information and belief Nate (sic) Cohen either by intention or by omission failed to inform [PLA representative] that Telepathy had just recently purchased the domain name PLA.com from another party in late 2007 or 2008 for an undisclosed amount.

So?

PLA states Telepathy is violating its trademark by offering the domain name for sale through Moniker. It states people mistakenly go to PLA.com when they’re looking for the firm’s web site. Here’s another gem from the lawsuit (pdf):

The current commercial offer for sale on the Moniker’s.com (sic) website for the pla.com domain name will actively divert traffic away from PLA’s authorized websites if a third party purchases the domain name using the PLA mark in its domain name and metatags of the pla.com domain name.

I guess this is saying that someone could infringe on PLA’s mark if it bought the domain name and competed with what PLA offers.

It’s no wonder the firm wants the domain name. Right now it uses ProjectLeadership.net. It doesn’t even have a .com domain name.

Here’s another thing regarding Cohen (other than being a nice guy) that I know: he doesn’t back down. Especially when someone makes a ridiculous claim.