Hospitality Firm Claims Leisure.com Infringes Its Trademarks

Firm wants to trade up to better domain name through lawsuit.

Leisure Hotel Corporation has filed a lawsuit against the owner of Leisure.com claiming trademark infringement, counterfeiting, false designations of origin, and cybersquatting (pdf).

Let me ask you a simple question: If you were the person who plunked down $150,000 to buy Leisure.com a couple years ago, what would you plan to do with it? The most obvious thing would be a site regarding travel. It’s a great use of a good generic domain name.

Generic.

But not as stated by Leisure Hotel Corporation, which bills itself as providing “a wide array of services in the hospitality, restaurant, and resort businesses”.

The firm claims that Leisure.com’s use as a travel booking comparison engine infringes its marks:

The Website prominently uses LEISURE nominative phrases, counting without limitation, LEISURE, LEISURE.COM, LEISURE SEARCH, and LEISURE TRAVEL (collectively the “Infringing Marks”), in its domain name and throughout the content of the webpages accessible at the Website.

Well, duh. It’s a web site regarding leisure.

Among Leisure Hotel Corporation’s demands is a lot of money and to get its hands on the domain name.