Celebrity Trademarks: Jay Leno Boots Cybersquatter
Jay Leno may be the predictable, humorless, lisping shadow of the much more talented, suave, and hilarious Conan O'Brien, but that's not the only thing our mega-chinned lackey was lacking. For five years, thejaylenoshow.com domain name did not belong to the veteran comedian and former Tonight Show host. Instead, it was occupied by one Guadalupe Zambrano in order to drum up interest in his real estate page. Fortunately, Jay Leno now has rightful possession of the web address after the World Intellectual Property Organization recently mandated that it be returned to him.
Cybersquatting refers to bad faith registration of a domain name so as to profit from someone else’s trademark. To add insult to injury, cybersquatters often attempt to extort money from the trademark holders by offering to sell the addresses back to them. The U.S. Antisquatting Consumer Protection Act was enacted to deter this type of exploitation. Misleading users in an effort to draw them to a particular site is banned by the Act.
The WIPO held that following a 30-year career, Leno had procured common law trademark rights to his name, and gave Zambrano a 10-day window to surrender the web address to Leno. A domain name represents one of the keys to widespread recognition, builds website traffic, and helps to create a natural association between a site and a person or entity.
I’m glad that the WIPO issued a decisive ruling and empowered trademark holders. People who have worked for years to build goodwill in their names deserve protection. Opportunistic cybersquatters should not be rewarded for their deceptive tactics! However, I don't know why this is the only registered trademark with Jay Leno's name. If you know, would you please pass it along to me?
