Josh Ong
WIPO panelist David Cairns issued the decision on Friday, as noted by Fusible. Apple had submitted a complaint to the organization in May.
Apple's case with the WIPO may indicate that the company is looking to utilize the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) as a cheaper option domain disputes. UDRP allows complainants to request a domain transfer if the name is "identical or confusingly similar" to a trademark or service mark in which the complainant has rights; the respondent has "no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name" and the domain name has been registered and "is being used in bad faith by the respondent."
According to the report, UDRP complaints can cost just thousands of dollars, compared to outright domain purchases that can cost in the millions. In 2007, Apple reportedly purchased the iPhone.com domain for a seven-figure sum because it viewed the link between the product and the site as virtually necessary to the success of its entry into the smartphone market.
Earlier this year, reports claimed that Apple paid $4.5 million to acquire the iCloud.com domain from a Swedish desktop-as-a-service company.
The ipods.com domain transfer will come even as iPods have slid to a small portion of Apple's revenue. Sales of the device slipped 20 percent year over year to 7.54 million last quarter, with sales of the iPad already having eclipsed the iPod in just over a year.
2011 will mark the tenth anniversary of the now iconic music player that has been credited with sparking Apple's successful transition into the "post-PC era." The iPod is said to have paved the way for the iPhone and iPad, which now produce more than 70 percent of the company's revenue.
William Gallagher
Charles Martin
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Christine McKee
25 Comments
I wonder how much and how long this process took. I'd like to use that for my company on a few domains.
... 2011 will mark the tenth anniversary of the now iconic music player that has been credited with sparking Apple's successful transition into the "post-PC era." ...
I think it likely that this is the year (the ten year anniversary), that the whole iPod lineup is redone or even eliminated as well.
I'd be surprised if the classic survives this year for instance, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if the nano was either axed or renamed as something besides an 'iPod' as well. If I was Jobs, I would make an "iPod classic" app that imitated the click-wheel so that the iPod lives on virtually, but basically delete the whole line otherwise, leaving just the touch.
Maybe keep selling the shuffles under an "iPlayer" moniker or something, but otherwise ... move on.
I know quite a few people that still purchase the nanos (well less so this year because it doesn't work as well with touch screen) just for running. A lot of the runners don't want high dollar ipods / iphones incase they break.
The iPod Touch is finally catching up in space to the classic, but nothing has replaced my Classic yet for car audio. I can easily store my lossless files on there and not worry about storage limits. I'd really hate to see them drop any of them.
Given that iPod popularity is waning quickly, I'm surprised Apple would even care anymore about that domain.
Given that iPod popularity is waning quickly, I'm surprised Apple would even care anymore about that domain.
No, seriously, what's your real comment?
Apple still sells them. Millions of them. They're part of what made Apple what it is today. It's Apple's intellectual property. There's no reason someone should be able to make that domain into a fake Apple site.
Take your pick.