Seattle Trademark Lawyer

In December, Seattle Trademark Lawyer reported on Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman’s cybersquatting suit against Dotster. What I hadn’t heard before was the phrase “domain tasting,” which BusinessWeek discusses in connection with the suit. 

Domain tasting occurs when domain name registrars mass-register available names on a five-day trial basis, associate the names with ad-filled Web sites, and then mass-cancel the registrations for a full refund. The practice exploits ICANN’s grace period that allows a company to register a domain name and then return it — because of a typo in the name, for example. The repeated five-day free registration-and-return of names is known as “domain kiting,” another phrase we’re sure to hear more of.

BusinessWeek reports that some owners of famous marks are lobbying for ICANN — the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers — to close the loophole allowing these practices. It states that others, like Neiman Marcus, are bringing suit.

Though it doesn’t speak in terms of “domain tasting,” Neiman Marcus’ amended and supplemental complaint alleges that Dotster, acting as both the registrant and registrar, “was able to delete some of the [domain names it registered] from the registry within 5 days and receive a refund of all registration fees.” Doster’s December 22 answer admits this fact, though it denies some of plaintiffs’ other allegations.

Plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled to be heard by Western District Judge Ronald Leighton on January 12. Dotster has not yet filed its opposition brief.

Circle ID recently published a nice history of domain tasting here.