Re: Who really benefits from 60-day period?

[Carl Oppedahl <carl@oppedahl.com>]

At 11:28 AM 01/08/97 -0500, Vince Wolodkin wrote:
>Carl,
>
>I absolutely understand your points on the future.  Courts would likely
>view a failure to respond within the specified 60 day period as
>favorable to the domain holder.  But what I absolutely fail to
>understand is why the domain cannot be in use during those first 60
>days.
>
>Besides, if I register a domain name and don't trademark it, aren't I
>failing due diligence.  

Surely you are aware that in many countries it takes a year or two or more
to obtain a trademark registration.

>If a domain name registrant wants added
>protection, they can not use it for 60 days on their own.  

No, there's a big difference between the following:

1.  IAHC proposal in place.  Covetous trademark owner awakens to the
Internet, tries to grab a domain name that is a couple of years old.  Judge
laughs the trademark owner out of court, pointing out that the trademark
owner hasn't offered any good excuse why it didn't speak up during the
60-day period.

2.  VW proposal in place.  Covetous trademark owner awakens to the
Internet, tries to grab a domain name that is a couple of years old.
Domain name owner pipes up, saying "oh, but during the first sixty days of
our domain name we didn't actually use it."  Judge looks at domain name
owner with puzzlement as to why something that they did or did not do, a
couple of years ago, makes any difference now.  Lawsuit drags on until the
domain name owner runs out of money.

>The ONLY way I see this as helpful is if the CORE would be willing to
>defend the 60 day period in court.  Then if a registrant is challenged
>after 60 days, the CORE would get involved in the suit, taking the
>position that the complaintant failed to file within the specified 60
>day period.

There is no way, none at all, that any domain name registration authority
is going to take sides in a domain name dispute.  


---
Carl Oppedahl, Oppedahl & Larson, patent law firm
http://www.patents.com/ has hundreds of pages of answers to 
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