September 2006
Something Smells A Bit Iffy Here
On 15 August 2006 the Nominet UK Dispute Resolution Service made a rather odd decision concerning the domain name: www.finecheeses.co.uk.
The Fine Cheese Company has since 2000 owned the domain www.finecheese.co.uk for the purposes of an online ordering service. Lawson cheeses also sells cheeses and registered in 2004 the domain: www.finecheeses.co.uk.
The Fine cheese company argued that this was an abusive registration and that it led to customer confusion.
The Nominet Expert decided that the Fine Cheese Company had rights in the name and that Lawson’s cheeses registration was an abusive block registration as it linked back to a site with very similar products
However, more significant, was the ease with which the Expert disregarded the possibility that the Domain name may be generic. The Nominet expert said, “The Expert has considered the question of the possible generic nature of the Domain Name [www.finecheese.co.uk]; whilst it is true that the Domain name is descriptive of the products sold by both the Complainant and the Respondent, the Expert considers that the Domain Name has acquired secondary meaning due to the activities of the Complainant. Indeed a Google Search for “Fine Cheese” discloses only the Complainant (and not the Respondent) and includes recommendations from such culinary worthies as Delia Smith. A search for “fine cheeses” produces a similar result.”
Briffa Comment
This case highlights the ease with which it is possible to overcome the argument that a domain is generic. This is particularly surprising as it would have seemed that ”finecheeses” was exactly the kind of term that public policy would ensure was kept free for other traders to use.
Amandeep Singh