Underscore Underscores Merchandise Score Injunction

has sourced this interesting footling U.S.A. trade score dispute from TMCNet. Perfume Bay has been selling perfumes nether the Perfume Bay merchandise score together with from a website amongst the perfumebay.com URL. Auction website eBay brought merchandise score infringement together with dilution cases against Perfume Bay. eBay lost on near of the claims, allowing Perfume Bay to decease on using its logo, yell together with slogan. However, the Central District Court of California institute that the perfumebay.com URL was confusing together with ordered that Perfume Bay should insert a separator (such every bit a infinite or underscore) betwixt the words “perfume” together with “bay”. Perfume Bay sought a remain of the injunction because ICANN volition non bring domain names containing underscores. The remain was initially granted for thirty days yesteryear the District Court inwards social club to enable Perfume Bay to appeal to the Court of Appeals. The appeal courtroom has stayed the injunction until the appeal tin live on heard inwards full.

In its master copy decision, the District Court every bit good appears to possess got institute that eBay had engaged inwards deceptive advertising, suggesting that at that spot was a link betwixt eBay together with Perfume Bay. This allowed Perfume Bay to win on an “unclean hands” defense point

thinks that it makes feel to vary an social club which is predicated on the possibility of a flat of activeness that cannot live on made to happen. He notes though that this is an representative of a courtroom modifying its approach to a merchandise score upshot inwards the calorie-free of ICANN’s rules.