If you are involved in an open source project and still haven’t decided on a name for your software then maybe you should take a couple of minutes to think carefully. You may end up infringing someone else’s trademark or intellectual property if you are not careful!
An example of this was one of the more recent WIPO decisions regarding the domain cpanelapache.com. If you visit the site today you will find information on:
a full-featured, open source web hosting control panel written in PHP and released under the GPL.It is composed of 3 control panels, Admin Panel, Reseller Panel and User Panel. Each Panel is made up of a hierachy of platform dependant API’s that are both advanced and easy to implement.
However that domain won’t be pointing there for much longer, as the current holder has lost the WIPO decision against him.
If you read the decision it seems that the domain holder did not make any effort to defend his stake to the domain name:
5. Parties’ Contentions
A. Complainant
Complainant contends that the disputed domain nameis confusingly similar to Complainant’s mark in that it incorporates the mark in its entirety. Complainant further contends that its mark is well known among users of web hosting services and among web hosting companies and that this notoriety increases the likelihood of confusion.
Complainant contends that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; and, Respondent has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. Complainant contends that excluding the added word “apache”, the domain name is identical to Complainant’s trademark and including the added word, the domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s CPANEL trademark.
B. Respondent
Respondent did not reply to Complainant’s contentions and has not otherwise actively participated in these proceedings.
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