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Username: spot
Date/Time: Sun, December 2, 2001 at 7:47 PM GMT
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer V5.5 using Windows 98
Subject: More about sunrise and TMs

Message: 		 

 
But it doesn't say anywahere that you have to use your sunrise domain
for your TM product. It seems that these kind of legal issues are unchartered territory. These IP issues are generally pushed through the courts by big businesses who try and get the laws adapted to benefit themselves. Of course individuals can't afford to fight this as it would cost millions. Even the internet community as a whole can't seem to get it together to stand as one force to stop this bullying. And our governments are doing les and less to stop the increasing legal power theat the bullies have. In fact they are handing it to them on a plate.

From what I can gather, no-one is allowed to TM a word which is descriptive of the industry class that the TM is in. But if they happen to have a TM in a different class, they could get a sunrise domain and then choose openly to use that domain for the industry that it is most relevant to i.e. using example of TM computer in socks class - owner having registered their sunrise domain legitimately can then say 'Well we legitimately acquired the domain computer.info for our socks company, but we have now decided to branch out into the computer business.'

This clearly is an abuse of the privelege and makes a mockery of the priority-to-TM-holders argument.

Effectively this means you can apply for TMs on virtually everything in obscure classes, purchase future domains before others, even put yourself in a position where you can steal them through UDRP and then decide to 'branch out' into the areas associated with the domains after they are under your ownership. That's one hell of a loophole. Corrupt organisations like BT have been TM'ing thousands of names, often before the law had evolved enough to consider them too close to the class they were applying for.
 

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