On Tue, Mar 27, 2001 at 10:50:37AM +1000, Wilkins, David wrote:
> Unfortunately, given the large number of threats we received around our
> trademarks and domain names we as an organization are left with two
> choices.. Register defensively our brands or litigate for every breach..
> Defensive registration is cheaper that even the UDRP process.

But what exactly does "defensive registration" mean?  Trademarks apply to
words and symbols used in trade within a particular trademark class and
geographic territory.  A near-infinite number of domain names containing
the string "anz" are possible, and why does the ANZ Bank have any better
claim to any of them than any other person or organisation holding a valid
trademark for "ANZ" in other classes or territories, to say nothing of
those using the name for non-commercial purposes?  What about proposals
for a new DNS class (in addition to the current Internet "IN" class)
to support multi-byte characters?  What about other naming systems?

It seems to me that DNS registrars have discovered an excellent way to
make money from businesses who generally see their brands and trademarks
as a cruical part of their very identity, and will therefore gladly
spend sometimes quite substantial sums of money if they believe they
are somehow protecting them.

How much will you pay me to register "anz.xu.net"?

How about "anz.bank" in my nameserver?

How about an "ANZ" Xandle (Xanadu Handle)?

Cheers,
	Andrew Pam
-- 
mailto:xanni§xanadu.net                         Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/                       Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/                   Technology Manager, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/sc/                   Manager, Serious Cybernetics
P.O. Box 477, Blackburn VIC 3130 Australia	Phone +61 401 258 915