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Old 02-17-2005, 12:12 PM  
warlock5
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Join Date: Jan 2004
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Domain name owners in the uk: scary shit

Here is an article from the Register. Some guy owns game.co.uk and a uk store, Game PLC, is trying to legally steal the domain from him due to trademark violations.

"Mr Sumpter, the original and at the moment still current owner of Game.co.uk, confessed to us that he didn't think for a second that the original decision would go against him. Now he sees it as a case of big company against small company. Game plc had a £171m turnover in 2002 and has nearly 350 shops across the UK. Mr Sumpter on the other hand has his consultancy and Game.co.uk, which he says makes £60,000 to £70,000 pre-tax profit a year. If a big company can shut down an existing online business - and competitor - through financial might, and over a generic name such as "game", it could have dire knock-on effects for the hundreds of thousands of small online businesses running from .uk domains."

"Game plc sees things differently. Its finance director David Thomas told us that the company feels Mr Sumpter had infringed on its rights by starting to sell video games on his site, which was and has been mistaken for Game plc. Mr Sumpter is benefiting from Game plc's good name, it claims. "We have rights under Nominet's procedure and we have exercised those rights. Mr Sumpter has a right of appeal which will be on the points of law," Thomas explained. "We're confident Nominet will uphold its original decision." Mr Sumpter is, of course, confident that the decision will go his way."

full article
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