Court Has Nothing To Say About iTunes UK Domain

Legal Issues

from the nothing-to-add dept

The saga of iTunes.co.uk has gone on for a while, with Nominet awarding the domain to Apple earlier this year. The reasoning was pretty clear. The original owner, who did register it before Apple ever launched iTunes, was using iTunes.co.uk in a way that could reasonable seen as confusing to visitors. If he had continued to do something totally separate with it, there would be no argument, since he had registered it first. But, in trying to sell iPods and credits for Apple’s iTunes, he probably stepped over the border of trademark infringement. It appears that the courts have agreed and have refused to hear the case, leaving the original ruling to stand. The owner of the domain can still apply for a hearing, but it’s not clear if he’s going to do so. Of course, what’s still not entirely clear is why he should be forced to give up the domain. It might make sense if they just told him he could no longer use it in a confusing manner. But, to completely hand it over to Apple might be too much.