In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed with the Internet Commerce Association’s position that under certain conditions, a generic .com domain name can obtain a trademark registration, albeit a very weak one, overruling the position advanced by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO had taken the position that no matter what, a …
INTERNET COMMERCE ASSOCIATION FILES SUPREME COURT BRIEF
Should generic .com domain names never be entitled to trademark protection? When a domain name like booking.com is identified as a brand by the public, should it still be denied trademark protection as a matter of law? The ICA takes a position on this difficult question in an amicus brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court of the United States …
ICA Public Comment to ICANN on the .COM price increase
The ICA submitted its comment to ICANN in connection with the Proposed Amendment 3 to the .COM Registry Agreement. ICA voices its concerns as to the effectiveness of ICANN’s Public Comment process in general as well as demonstrates that ICANN allowing Verisign to charge more for .COM domains is not justifiable. We encourage everyone to read our full comment and …
ICA STATEMENT on ICANN’S ANNOUNCED CHANGES to the .COM REGISTRY AGREEMENT
ICANN’s announcement that it “reached a proposed agreement” with Verisign to amend the .com registry agreement raises serious concerns and questions. The Internet Commerce Association will be closely studying the proposed changes and will deliver its comments to ICANN in due course. Amongst the preliminary concerns and questions that ICANN’s announcement raises are the following The proposed price increase imposes …
Take Part in the NTEN Organized Community Call on the Internet Society Sale of PIR / .ORG
NTEN is organizing a call this Thursday, December 5th, at 12 PM PST, 3 PM EST. They will be joined by Electronic Frontier Foundation, The National Council of Nonprofits, and Internet Society chapter leaders, as well as Jon Nevett from Public Interest Registry, and Erik Brooks and Nora Abusitta from Ethos Capital. Andrew Sullivan from Internet Society has been invited …
ICA Calls for ICANN to Withhold Approval of Purported .Org Registry Sale
The original justification for awarding the .Org registry contract to ISOC was its public interest focus and commitments. If ISOC is no longer associated with the .Org registry, that justification for awarding the Registry Agreement no longer exists. Therefore, it would be reasonable for you to withhold your approval of the assignment to a private equity company. ICANN has the …
ICA PARTICIPATES IN WIPO 20TH ANNIVERSARY SYMPOSIUM
Zak Muscovitch, General Counsel of the ICA, was invited by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to present at its symposium on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the UDRP held in Geneva on October 21, 2019. This invitation was a rare opportunity to share the perspective of domain name investors to an audience of UDRP panelists. UDRP panelists …
2020 Lonnie Borck Memorial Award Nominations
We’re happy and proud to announce that nominations for ICA’s 2020 Lonnie Borck Memorial Award are now open! With NamesCon’s generous support, for the 4th year in a row we’ll be holding the award ceremony during the conference. This year we have refocused the award. The Lonnie Borck Memorial Award was originally conceived to honor those whose work has protected the rights of domain name …
ICA’s Letter to ICANN’s Ombudsman on his Response to NameCheap’s Request for Reconsideration
During ICANN’s public comment period on lifting price caps on .org domains, over 3200 people submitted comments, overwhelmingly opposing price cap removals. ICANN however, seemingly ignoring these comments, has granted PIR the right to raise prices on .org domains. In response, NameCheap, a well-known domain registrar, has submitted a Request for Reconsideration to ICANN. Yesterday, ICANN’s Ombudsman, Herb Waye, sided with …
ICA Advises ICANN Board to Support Existing Protections for International Organizations
ICA’s recommendation is that while IGOs and INGOs should have effective access to rights protection mechanisms which reasonably meet their unique requirements not to submit to national courts, no new procedure is required because they can use the UDRP. Read the full letter: Letter to Mary Wong re GNSO Policy Development Process on IGO-INGO Access to Curative Rights Protection Mechanisms …