Reglikedomain industry desk

TheRack.com, probably to Nordstrom — Marchex sells

Mark Monitor group purchases retail domain name.

Based on whois records, it appears that Marchex has sold the domain name TheRack.com.

My money is on Nordstrom buying it for its Nordstrom Rack outlet stores, sometimes called “The Rack”.

Although the whois information for the domain shows Name Advisers Inc. as the owner, Name Advisers is affiliated with brand protection registrar Mark Monitor. Nordstrom uses Mark Monitor for its domain names.

So why is this interesting? Isn’t it just another end user sale?

I find it interesting since Nordstrom is embroiled in a lawsuit with online retailer NoMoreRack.com. It claims that NoMoreRack is infringing its “rack” and “the rack” trademarks. NoMoreRack claims that “rack” is a common term used in retail.

Nordstrom recently failed to get a preliminary injunction against NoMoreRack, and a legal filing shows that the two parties are headed to mediation next month.

Right now Nordstrom Rack’s web site is just a directory on the main Nordstrom.com site. It forwards NordstromRack.com to it.

I wonder if it tried to play the trademark card with Marchex ahead of buying the domain name.

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

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