Microsoft Files Dispute Against Owner Of Xboxone.com And Xboxone.net
Microsoft has filed a complaint against the current owner of the websites Xboxone.com and Xboxone.net, just days after the company revealed its new next-gen console, the Xbox One. The company revealed the console, which had previously been called the Xbox 720 or Durango, on Tuesday, May 21. Microsoft announced that the console would be available by the end of 2013.
Microsoft filed the complaint with the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) on May 23, and its case number (1501205) is currently listed as pending in the forum’s domain dispute database. Both website domains are registered to London resident Krasimir Hristov Ivanov, who bought the domains on December 29, 2011, according to domain registration search engine WhoIs.
A Microsoft representative told IGN, “Microsoft’s domain name portfolio is a part of its ongoing business strategy, but beyond that we have no comment.”
Microsoft has filed domain disputes in the past, and the cases generally end in Microsoft’s favor. In 2003, a Canadian high school student named Mike Rowe registered the name MikeRoweSoft.com for his part-time web design business. Microsoft considered the domain to be trademark infringement, due to its phonetic resemblance to the trademarked company name, and demanded that Rowe give up the domain. Rowe asked to be compensated for giving up the domain, and Microsoft gave him the $10 he spent to register the domain. Rowe then asked for $10,000 because he was “mad” at the original offer, and Microsoft responded with a 25-page cease and desist order.
The company accused the high school senior of cybersquatting, a practice in which someone uses a domain name in an attempt to profit from someone else’s trademark. The cybersquatter will then offer to sell the domain to the company that owns the trademark for a large price. Mike Rowe and Microsfoft eventually settled out of court, and Microsoft gained control of the domain. The company also paid Rowe’s expenses, and gave him and his family an all-expenses paid trip the Microsoft Research Tech Vest at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The company also gave Rowe training for Microsoft certification.
In this particular case, neither Xboxone.com or Xboxone.net are being used for anything, which may help Microsoft prove cybersquatting, even despite the timing of the websites’ registration.
Do you think Microsoft will win its against against the owner of Xboxone.com and Xboxone.net?
[Photo courtesy of: Microsoft]
