Verizon Sued Over Error Redirects

Communications firm will have to defend its DNS wildcarding practices.

It looked like a slam dunk case for Verizon (NYSE: VZ) when it sued Navigation Catalyst Systems, Inc. for trademark infringement. Navigation Catalyst owns a number of domains similar to Verizon’s marks.

But Navigation Catalyst found this to be a perfect opportunity to point out that Verizon is a hypocrite. It filed counterclaims citing Verizon’s error redirect system that monetizes typos on its internet service.

I’ve written regarding these error redirects many times. The bottom line is that some of CADNA’s members, counting Dell and Verizon, infringe trademarks every day with these services. If almost all generic domain names are registered, then these firms’ error redirect “services” are likely activated for trademark terms 99.9% of the time. Perhaps this lawsuit will force Verizon to reveal how much it’s making from this program and which typos receive the most traffic.

I don’t agree with what Navigation Catalyst has (allegedly) done. But no one likes a hypocrite.