Supreme Court says generic domains like booking.com can be trademarked (opens in new tab)

(arstechnica.com)

25 pointsReticentVole5y ago3 comments

3 comments

Seems reasonable. I do share this concern:

>Breyer argued that what's really at stake in this case is the ability to register domains that are similar but not identical to booking.com. Thanks to today's ruling, booking.com could "threaten trademark lawsuits against competitors using domains such as bookings.com, eBooking.com, booker.com, or bookit.com," Breyer wrote.

Without even buying similar domains, a company can prevent them from being used via trademark law.

ianai5y ago

This seems like a clear test case for whether law is pro-business in the special interest case of one or a few companies or as the reinforcement of efficient and competitive markets.

gentleman115y ago

This is like trademarking 221B Baker Street or some other physical address. Doesn’t this make it hazardous to purchase domain names now, since some trademark troll may have grabbed it in the past? Currently there is something extremely refreshing about being able to buy a domain that you find available - no need to worry about getting sued for some random nonsense

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