Question: My last name is not Smith. But if I register Smith.com (or Smith.whatever), and plan a site dedicated to Dick and Jane Smith, should Smith Corporation be able to take it from me? Yes or no, please.

Nominee Replies

Harris Miller - posted on 2000-10-02 12:10:28 Under the facts that you provide, I do not think so. First, Smith is a largely generic name. Second, it does not appear that you are attempting to compete with or otherwise dilute the value of Smith Corporation's trademark. Lyman Chapin - posted on 2000-10-01 15:33:46 No - but this is a matter for trademark law, not how I think the world should work. We don't yet know how trademark law should apply to domain names, in part because the Internet does not (at this point) provide the context of place and usage that allows Smith, the person and Smith, the corporation to co-exist without conflict in the real world. Depending on how new gTLDs are introduced, the rules for Smith.com and Smith.whatever could be very different. Karl Auerbach - posted on 2000-09-30 17:48:58 Your question is hardly hypothetical. I have auerbach.com. I use it as a general resource for people and businesses using the family name. I absorb all the operational costs and make no charge to those who are listed on the web page. I have received demands that I relinquish the domain name. I'd be very ticked off if ICANN's policies were to force me - or anyone in a similar position - into litigation to protect my - or their - own name from being expropriated. Emerson Tiller, J.D., Ph.D. - posted on 2000-09-30 12:07:04 NO. Smith is a generic/personal name and you are not using it to compete with Smith Corporation. Smith Corporation should not be able to take it from you. Barbara Simons - posted on 2000-09-30 11:45:11 No. In particular, if you are not engaged in some commercial activity that could be confused with the commercial activity of Smith Corp., then Smith Corp. has no grounds under the UDRP to take away your domain name. If there were TLDs that allowed only the owner of a trademark to have the corresponding domain name, then different rules might apply on those TLDs. As of now, there is no such TLD. Lawrence Lessig - posted on 2000-09-30 11:40:11 Maybe. I do not favor using ICANN to expand trademark law, or the law governing the use of peoples' names, but it is possible what you describe could violate those laws, and hence result in removal. That should not be ICANN's issue however.