Trust sues owners of Heisman domain names — Heisman Trophy
Group behind the Heisman Trophy sues owners of domains with Heisman in them.
The organization that administers the Heisman Trophy, which is awarded to college football’s top player each year, has sued three people it states are infringing its trademark and copyright.
The lawsuit (pdf) is aimed at HeismanWatch.com and the Heisman Watch Podcast. The Heisman Trophy Trust states that one of the defendants also owns the domain names HeismanCandidates.com and HeismanWatch.com, which forward to HeismanWatch.com.
As stated by the lawsuit, the defendants have been infringing its marks and copyright since January 2014.
Heisman Trophy Trust does not appear to have ever filed a UDRP against a domain name.
It’s possible that the defendants didn’t understand trademark law when they registered the domains and selected the name of the podcast. There’s a lesson here for anyone creating a website or podcast regarding a firm or trademarked name: don’t use the actual trademark in your domain name. People have learned this the hard way by using WordPress in their domain name.
