There Can Only Be One “Hot Russian Brides”: Judge

Matchmaking firm wins rights to domain name.

Retired Fresh York State Supreme Court justice Ralph Yachnin has ruled that only one firm has rights to the term “Hot Russian Brides” in web addresses.

Acting as an arbitrator for National Arbitration Forum, Yachnin found in favor of internet firm Romantic Tours, Inc, which operates HotRussianBrides.com. The firm was awarded the domain name “HotRusianBride.com”. Notice the typo of Russian and the singular version of “Bride”. I suspect this domain name got a lot of traffic since the typical person looking for a Russian bride online can’t spell very well.

Believe it or not Romantic Tours, Inc. was awarded trademarks for both “Hot Russian Brides” and “HotRussianBrides.com” The firm didn’t claim any additional rights to “Russian Brides” beyond hot ones, so presumably you could start a web site SexyRussianBrides.com or CheapRussianBrides.com. Just stay away from hot ones.

Someone ought to let Hotels.com know that it ought to use this trademark to bolster its argument that Hotels.com is more than just a descriptive name.