Reglikedomain industry desk

Sues Merk & Co. over .merck top level domain name — Merck KGaA

Firm files two lawsuits in .merck dispute.

Merck KGaA, one of the applicants for the .merck top level domain names, has filed two lawsuits against competing applicant Merck & Co.

As stated by a reconsideration request (pdf) Merck KGaA filed with ICANN, it has filed suit in District Court in Hamburg, Germany as well as in the United Kingdom.

Merck & Co was formerly a U.S. subsidiary of Merck KGaA that was confiscated by the US government during World War I and then established as an independent firm. Both firms have territorial rights to the Merck name.

It seems that the two firms are going to use all legal options at their disposal to win the contention set.

Both filed Legal Rights Objections against each other. Merck & Co filed a string confusion objection against Merck KGaA’s .emerck application. MerckKGaA returned the favor with three community objections. (Merck & Co’s tardy legal rights objection filing is the subject of the reconsideration request.)

Add the two lawsuits to the mix (Merck KGaA states it’s filing more in other jurisdictions) and it’s going to be a costly battle for .merck.

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