Neiman Marcus Sues over Domain Names
Neiman Marcus Group has filed suit against two domain name companies for registering more than 40 Internet addresses that it says are too similar to the department store chain’s trademarks.
Name.com LLC and Spot Domains LLC are named in the suit, filed last week in U.S. District Court in Denver.
The complaint alleges that the domain names link to online ads for companies that compete with Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, another retail property owned by the parent group.
According to the suit, Name.com and Spot Domains engaged in what is known as “domain tasting”. Using a five-day refundable grace period for name registrations, tasters commonly register hundreds of names, often using common misspellings generated with automated software. They then sit back to see which domains bring in substantial revenue quickly and reclaim the $6 annual registration fee for the rest.
The Neiman Marcus suit also claims that the defendants purposely masked their identities in databases used to track domain registrants. The retailers are asking for injunctions and $100,000 in damages for each domain name under dispute.
Last June Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman filed a similar suit against domain name registrar Dotster for registering names such as NeimuMarcus.com. Under a settlement reached in February, Dotster has agreed to a permanent injunction against registering “confusingly similar” names to those of the retailers, and to stop using automated software for bulk registration filings until cybersquatting filters are installed.
