Hello,

I thought what the heck and registered a few .BIZ domain names. I was pretty shocked to see that two of them have been challenged as trademarks, etc.

The two names in question are CINCINNATI.BIZ and WEBSITES.BIZ. Don't ask me why I registered them. I was on a late night second wind caffeine induced funk and those were a couple of the words I thought of.

Interestingly, they have been reserved by other companies.

CINICINNATI.BIZ is claimed by Time Warner. This is odd as the current CINCINNATI.COM is owned by the Cincinnati Enquirer, the local paper. The only ties Time Warner has to the Cincinnati area is cable. They are the largest cable company in the area. Here is what they say:

The following are the details of each IP Claim for cincinnati.biz.

1a. Intellectual Property Claimant's Contact Information
Time Warner Cable
160 Inverness Drive West

Englewood
Colorado
80112
1b. Trademark or Service Mark: NotProvidedInBulk
1c. IP Claim String and Identification Number: cincinnati.biz 67611
1d. Description of Goods and/or Services: Common Law
1e. Alleged Date of First Use: 2000-10-01 00:00:00.
1f. Country of First Use: USA.
1g. Trademark Status: COMMON
1h. Date "Registered" or "Applied For":
1i. International Class: Not Applicable

The other site WEBSITES.BIZ was claimed by Verio. They own the name WEBSITES.COM, so I understand where they are coming from. Unfortunatley, websites is a common word and not trademarked. Here is what they say:

1a. Intellectual Property Claimant's Contact Information
Verio Inc.
8005 South Chester Street
Suite 200
Englewood
CO
80112
1b. Trademark or Service Mark: websites
1c. IP Claim String and Identification Number: websites.biz 9002
1d. Description of Goods and/or Services: Providing multiple user dial-up and
dedicated access to computer networks, internal computer networks and global
computer networks for the transfer and dissemination of a wide range of
information; wireless communication services, namely, digital messaging services;
electronic voice messaging services, namely, the rec
1e. Alleged Date of First Use: 2000-12-01 00:00:00.
1f. Country of First Use: USA.
1g. Trademark Status: COMMON
1h. Date "Registered" or "Applied For": 2000-12-01 00:00:00
1i. International Class: Not Applicable

So, here is my question ... how does the appeal process work? I want to go through with it on Cincinnati.BIZ for the simple fact it's Time Warner's way of grabbing what they can. They have no legitimate claim against it.

Although I would love to get WEBSITES.BIZ, my thought is that Verio should be able to register it as they have WEBSITES.COM.

Anyone know how the actual appeal process works? Will it cost me money? Is anyone doing this right now?

THANKS!

Both of those are pretty generic terms, I wouldn't give either of them up. I believe if it's a business name or trademark it would be disputable, but generic domains I doubt can be claimed as a trademark infringement. If they hold a trademark on anything there it's most likely websites.com. Take it with a grain of salt and they're marketing department may be next to contact you. I'm no lawyer, but i've been through this process.

Originally posted by Seer
I'm no lawyer, but i've been through this process.

When you went through this process what happened? Is the onus on the company who claims a trademark or is it on me?

Aloha
well one thing to do is do a search at the http://www.uspto.gov site and see who has words like website
I am sure someone has tried to do this not saying it would stick
but one thing is that sadly this whole things is very upsetting as it is going to be who has the money to push it
but it will not cost you anythig to try to keep them
who filed the .biz claim first was it you or them that may have some outcome on it ???

Where can you buy .biz's :)

Originally posted by Angel78
Where can you buy .biz's :)

The pre-regisration is over. It was till yesterday, midnight. I pre-registered one at www.000domains.com, hope to get it :D