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NTT DoCoMo accused of reverse domain name hijacking

When NTT DoCoMo accused AT&T of hijacking imode.biz, it forgot to mention that it had licensed the name to the US telco. Now the tables have been turned
Written by Matt Loney, Contributor

Japan's NTT DoCoMo was accused by a panel convened by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of attempting to reverse-hijack the imode.biz domain name after it lost its case to win the name from US telecoms giant AT&T.

The accusation was delivered in a ruling by WIPO's arbitration panel, which found that AT&T had not registered imode.biz in bad faith and furthermore that in failing to disclose relevant information to the panel, the complaint was a case of attempted reverse domain name hijacking.

A case of reverse domain name hijacking was decided on even though AT&T did not seek this, said the panel. The reason for this was that in bringing its case, NTT DoCoMo failed to disclose the (otherwise widely publicised) fact that it had a significant investment in AT&T. Under the terms of this investment, AT&T was granted "licences to all DoCoMo know-how, technology and intellectual property rights related to i-mode mobile multimedia services (up to and including 3G) as it is developed; sole use of the i-mode brand in the USA, and other know-how developed for mobile multimedia services."

AT&T registered the imode.biz domain name on 27 March this year. NTT DoCoMo, which created the i-mode service, filed its complaint against AT&T with WIPO in April under the Start-up Trademark Opposition Policy and Rules that govern disputes in the .biz domain. Although the panel found that NTT DoCoMo clearly has rights to the imode and i-mode trademarks, it said both parties had a legitimate interest in the domain name. Under the .biz dispute procedures, NTT DoCoMo would have had to demonstrate bad faith on AT&T's part, but in the opinion of the panel it failed to do so.


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