Apple wins rights to iTunes.co.uk domain

Posted on 16 Mar 2005 at 13:03

Apple has won the rights to the iTunes.co.uk domain after UK registrar Nominet ruled that the current owner, CyberBritain Holdings, is cybersquatting.

Nominet found that the company had made an 'abusive registration' under the terms of UK rules which allow for a domain to be transferred to a complainant - in this case Apple - if it is being used 'in a way which has confused people or businesses into believing that the domain name is registered to, operated or authorised by, or otherwise connected with the complainant'.

Benjamin Cohen, CyberBritain's chief executive, denied the charge of cybersquatting and is considering an appeal directly to Nominet or in the High Court. He claims that he registered the domain a month before Apple applied for a UK trademark for iTunes.

'We were not expecting this decision by Nominet's appointed expert,' Cohen told The Times. 'Apple chose to launch the UK brand of 'itunes' within the UK with the knowledge that we had owned the name for three years before their United States launch and four years before their launch within the UK.'

Recently, in a similar case, the High Court rejected an attempt the Phones4U high-street phone retailer to gain Phone4U.co.uk, suggesting Cohen may yet be in with a chance of hanging on to the iTunes domain.

Apple does not comment on ongoing legal disputes.

Author: Simon Aughton

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