Bloggers Picking Up on the Case (and They Seem to Agree with Us)
Posted by Domain Name David on Sep 29, 2008
We wanted to thank 2 bloggers for talking about our case recently. The blog mentioning the case are:
StartupDunia - Pranav Dharma seems to agree with our stance per his post which can be seen here.
MediaNama - Nikhil Pahwa comments on the case in his post which can be seen here.
We appreciate folks like Pranav and Nikhil bringing attention to this case and the dangerous precedent that Consim is setting by trying to bully their way to getting premium Indian domain names which are being legitimately used. Ultimately, such actions by Consim have the potential to tilt the internet in Indian in favor of larger, more well-capitalized firms and hurt entrepreneurs. We, of course, remain confident that NIXI understands this and will make the right decision.
We look forward to seeing what their readers have to say and keeping them posted on developments as they unfold.
This could set a dangerous precedent for the internet in India
Posted by Domain Name David on Sep 9, 2008
If those who legitimately register a domain name can be hijacked by others on the basis of speculative arguments and misstated facts and figures, this makes doing things on the web in India very difficult.
We have every faith in NIXI that they’ll see through this attempt as its implications for the development of the internet in India could be far-reaching. If generic terms can be taken away from rightful owners, we’d expect the owners of samosa.com to start laying claim to any site that has the name “samosa” in it.
One can argue that the earliest bird should get the worm - in other words, the first corporation who is able to register a generic term should “own” that term outright.
The problem is, the very reason a term is generic is because the term existed before the corporation got to it - in other words, there were birds who got to the worm way, way earlier (as early as the 13th century!). If a 13th century cook can lay claim to “samosa,” then the 21st century sidewalk samosa walla may conceivably be compelled to pay the original somosa walla a royalty.
That makes no sense of, course. And the reason is simple. Generic terms have no owners - they belong to the world.
Our Response Has Been Submitted
Posted by Domain Name David on Sep 5, 2008
Today, we sent a detailed response to NIXI, the arbitrator and the complainant in the case for tamilmatrimony.co.in. Our response is well-constructed and provides business and legal context for why we feel this complaint is without merit.
We look forward to hearing from NIXI on this and are confident they’ll see our viewpoint.
The generic nature of the term “Tamil matrimony”
Posted by Domain Name David on Aug 26, 2008
While we will not be discussing the full details of our response to NIXI via this website, we thought that one of the claims made by the Complainer was worth getting commentary on from the public. It is their assertion that the term “Tamil Matrimony” has acquired a secondary meaning in that when people hear the term, they think of “tamilmatrimony.com”.
We find this claim to be erroneous for multiple reasons but primarily because “Tamil matrimony” is a generic term which has in no way acquired this secondary meaning. It is a term which pre-dates the internet as matrimony (or marriage) services for Tamil people have long been accepted in India (as well as Sri Lanka and other countries). So newspapers, marriage brokers, etc all use the term.
With the advent of the internet, there are millions of sites that mention the term “Tamil matrimony” which are not related to tamilmatrimony.com. It is an obvious and commonly used term. In fact, there are identical domain names offering similar services such as www.tamilmatrimony.net, www.tamilmatrimony.co.uk, www.tamilmatrimony.lk and www.tamilmatrimony.ca.
What do others think? Has the term Tamil matrimony derived a secondary meaning tying it to tamilmatrimony.com?
Enlisting the help of a lawyer
Posted by Domain Name David on Aug 24, 2008
Spoke with several domain name experts, trademark officials and attorneys who believe, as I do, that there is a strong case here against the Complainant.
I also chose a great lawyer to help file our response with Nixi - Sachin R. Mehta. He is a Los Angeles based attorney, founder of the Law Offices of Sachin R. Mehta and has great experience in trademark and domain name matters. Although he is across the country from me, I was impressed by his knowledge, ideas and business savvy. Given that we’re arguing a case many thousand miles away, what’s a little more distance?
Sachin and I will jointly maintain this site going forward.
Good morning. You’ve been served.
Posted by Domain Name David on Aug 13, 2008
I woke up to an email this morning from the National Internet Exchange of India (www.nixi.in) stating that they “have received a complaint with respect to a domain name “www.tamilmatrimony.co.in” and the matter is being referred to the arbitrator for arbitration proceedings.”
I happen to own the domain name.
I’m awaiting more details but will keep you posted.
