Domain Name Battle - The Re-Match

The appeal by One in a Million to the Court of Appeal against the domain name decision we reported on earlier this year was decided last week.

To recap, One in a Million (and others) registered a number of domain names incorporating or using parts of the names of famous companies, including Marks & Spencer. Apparently, they had done this with a view to selling the domain names to the companies concerned.

In response the companies had applied for, and obtained, injunctions requiring One in a Million to assign the domain names to them (for nothing). The Court of Appeal categorically turned down One in a Million's appeal, thereby upholding the original decision.

Neither the first decision or the decision of the Court of Appeal is unduly surprising, as there was clear evidence that One in a Million had intended to use the fact that it had registered the domain names first to extract money from the relevant companies. Nevertheless, the decision is of significance and should