As I understand things, I don't
think sock company would lose their TM on computer if they sold computer.info. Nothing
states that you have to forfeit your TM if you sell a domain.
If they were allowed
computer TM before the domain even existed, then I think you'd be allowed to keep
it whatever happened to the domain, as long as the TM was not abused. Essentially
the TM and the domain are unrelated. The only point where they are related is in
the sunrise process. Once that's over, they are unrelated, and the domain becomes
an asset which the company can do whatever it likes with.After the period in which
the domains are locked for 6 months, the owners are allowed to sell aren't they?
This is one of the biggest parts of the scam. If they had been forbidden to sell
the domain for the entire 5 year period, or forbidden to use content irrelevant to
the class of TM, then it would have prevented many of the cyber squatters. However
now, many of them are getting ready to put the names on the market. This is one of
the main points of corruption - you could do what you want with the domain after
only 6 months. WHY? It must have been to encourage fraud, which of course generated
much profit for Afilias. The domain was granted under specific condition that registrant
had a TM. There is no excuse for allowing them to sell it after only 6 months(!)
This is the bit I don't like, because it makes a mockery of the whole thing. The
TM was just an application formality: after the application is processed, nothing
binds the domain to the TM.
(But you could use the TM as defense if someone wanted
to swipe your domain).
Therfore you can do what you like with that domain. For
example, Apple computers could set up a new company: Global Fruit and Veg Inc. This
company would be unrelated to their computer sales. Then they could give this company
apple.info. As long as they don't have their Apple logo or any references to it,
they are within the law, since the TM itself has not been mentioned and therefore
is not out of its class.