Re: [wg-c] A branded TLD would be .nsi

[Milton Mueller <mueller@syr.edu>]

Martin B. Schwimmer wrote:

> 1.  Whether .com is today a trademark of NSI;
>
> 2.  Whether .web is today a trademark of CORE or IOD or no one;
>
> 3.  Whether TLD suffixes can theoretically function as trademarks;
>
> 4.  Whether TLD suffixes should as a matter of DNS policy be allowed to
> function as trademarks.
>
> The easiest question is no. 3, because it is certainly possible to posit a
> set of facts where a TLD suffix functions as a TM (the easiest being to
> take an existing TM - .mci, the other being taking an arbitrary term, .xyz,
> and ICANN or whoever decrees that only X can be the register/registrar of
> .xyz).

agree.

> Questions 1 and 2 are mixed questions of law and fact I leave for the courts.

agree.

> Question 4 is not really a TM question but a DNS policy question and I
> refrain from putting in an opinion.

agree.