Microsoft sues over 300+ misleading domain names

SOFTWARE GIANT Microsoft started a case in a Utah court alleging individuals and companies had registered domain names so close to its own that mistyping URLs meant others benefited from its fame.

The firm took legal action against Jason Cox, Daniel Goggins and John Jonas, and against companies they're involved in - Jones and Goggins Studios LLC and Newtonarch LLC.

In the filing, Microsoft alleged that at least 324 domains registered to these individuals and companies "are confusingly similar to Microsoft's marks. The infringing Domain Names... resolve to websites that are controlled by defendants."

These websites, said Microsoft, contain adverts and hyperlinks so that if someone looking for a Volish site lands there by mistake, they click on the hyperlinks and are diverted from the site they were originally seeking.

The list is exhaustive, if not exhausting, and runs into several pages which Microsoft claims infringe on a number of its trademarks, including Halo, Hotmail, Excel, and a heap of others. .

Here's a shot of just one of the sets of domain names Microsoft is seeking to shut down. Microsoft is seeking injunctions, damages on breach of trademarks, and the forfeiture of the offending domain names as well as heaps of damages. µ

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The full PDF (big)