"MAESTRO" Loses Domain Name Appeal

Most of us in the United Kingdom are extremely familiar with the "MAESTRO" trade mark. It is the leading debit-card brand in the UK, and is more than likely emblazoned on a card tucked away in many of our wallets. It may therefore come as a surprise that the owner of this trade mark, Maestro International Inc (a subsidiary of Mastercard), has been unsuccessful in its attempts to secure a transfer of the domain name "maestro.co.uk". A recent decision by a Nominet appeal panel denied this transfer, affirming the Nominet expert's first instance decision.

Nominet is the UK organisation responsible for administering ".uk" country-code domain names. Any person seeking to use Nominet's procedures in relation to offending domain names must prove firstly that it has enforceable rights in the domain name, and secondly, that the domain name, in the hands of the registrant, is an abusive registration.