Domain-Sucks.com isn’t international
A recent WIPO panel ruling shed some fresh light on adding “sucks” or another derogative term to a trademark.
The case is Air France and the domain AirFranceSucks.com. There are a number of reasons Air France won this case. Some of the reasons are nothing novel: the registrant wasn’t a dissatisifed client posting complaints, and the page was used to generate revenue from pay-per-click ads. But there was something “fresh” in this WIPO decision. The WIPO panel decided that Air France is not an international firm, and someone that speaks a different language might not realize what “sucks” means. Thus, they might actually believe this web site was run by Air France. That’s actually a good point.
I strongly believe in giving people the right to register derogative domain names if they have a bona fide purpose. For example, if you had a bad at a store, registering storesucks.com and telling regarding your experience is legit–if you don’t profit from it. This was clearly not the case for AirFranceSucks.com.
Read more on the Pierce Law IP News Blog.
