Google gets back googblog.com from Indian owner

| May 29th, 2009 | By: Piyush Goyal | Category: Science/Tech

Ahmedabad: Search engine and internet behemoth Google Inc has won a cybersquatting dispute concerning the domain name “googblog.com” against an Indian owner called Herit Shah.

The case was adjudicated by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which ordered Shah to transfer the domain name to Google. Shah had registered the domain in September last year. Google filed a case at the WIPO against Shah on March 26 this year claiming that the domain name was very similar to its official trademark used in all businesses.

Google’s NASDAQ moniker is “GOOG” and as such it is understandable why the Mountain View, Calif-based company decided to get googblog.com back.

Initial negotiations between the two parties failed, as per information released by the WIPO. However in a hearing on May 2, Shah expressed his willingness to surrender the domain, saying he believed in bad faith that he could legally keep the domain name. “I really did very unfair to Google. I sincerely apologise to Google for infringement, misuse of their intellectual property,” he added.

After Shah expressed his willingness, the WIPO did not have any reason to examine the matter under its Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy and ordered Shah to transfer the domain to Google.

According to the US federal law, cybersquatting is an illegal activity whereby users register trademarked domain names in bad faith simply to take advantage of the popularity of these brands.

In case of Shah, his willingness to surrender the disputed domain name to Google probably avoided hefty legal fees as well as what would undoubtedly have been huge penalties.

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