WIPO denies three more challenges to new top level domain names.
World Intellectual Property Organization panels have denied three more top level domain name Legal Rights Objections.
All of the objections were filed against strings that are not in contention sets.
.Academy – Academy Sports + Outdoors filed this objection against Donuts. A number of brands have challenged Donuts over its domains including .coach, .limited, and .express. All have failed. This sums up the case:
While the Panel recognizes that, through its marketing and promotional efforts, the Objector has made itself known to a certain limited business and geographic sector of the public, the Panel finds that the vast majority of Internet users coming across a .academy gTLD would have no reason to assume that it was intended as a eference to the Objector and could just as likely connect it to the myriad other uses of the term “academy” in the English language and in commerce.
.Blue – Health insurer Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association filed this objection against Afilias.
Afilias also applied for .black, .green, .pink, and .red, which made it highly suspect to think it was targeting Blue Cross Blue Shield.
.Bio – Biotechnology Industry Organization filed this objection against Starting Dot.
Of the three of these cases, this was perhaps the most perplexing. Similar to other cases, the panel determined that the word has a generic meaning and would not necessarily be associated with the objector.
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