What’s in a name? Microsoft Battling For Xbox One domain

What’s in a name? Well, quite a lot actually and the guys over as Microsoft HQ will testify to that as they’re currently locked in a legal battle to secure the Xbox One domain names, xboxone.com and xboxone.net.

The Xbox One domains are currently owned by London based geek Krasimir Ivanov, but he’s refusing to cough up the domains to Microsoft as he’s actually owned them since December 2011. So, Microsoft have taken action against Krasimir, claiming that he is a “cyber squatter”.

Cyber Squatter?

Microsoft filed the complaint with the National Arbitration Forum on Thursday, just two days after the initial announcement of the Xbox One. But what is a cyber Squatter, and what rights do Microsoft have to claim the Xbox One domain names if Mr Ivonov has owned them for nearly two years?

Well, they have quite a lot of right as it happens. You see, there is a “bad faith” clause in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’s (ICANN) terms and conditions that all domains owners have to agree to, and what this clause says is that a domain name registrant would be considered to have used a domain name “in bad faith” if it can be shown that they registered the name “primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark…”

In order to claim the Xbox One domain names, Microsoft will need to prove a couple of things. Firstly that the domain name in question is identical, or “confusingly similar” to a trademark that Microsoft owns. Secondly that the owner of the domain(s) in question doesn’t have any right to the trademark; and finally, that the domain(s) were actually purchased in “bad faith”.

All in all, I think Microsoft will have absolutely no problem proving all of the above, and the rules and clauses are being used exactly as intended to protect business owners and their identity. No one knows how long this will take before Microsoft actually own these domains, so only time will tell.

What do you guys think? Should Microsoft be pursuing this? Does Krasimir Ivanov own these domains fair and square? Why not tell us your thoughts below…