US Bimbo Gets To Keep Domain Name From Spanish Bimbo

from the not-exactly-trademark-infringement dept

There are plenty of stories (often of the urban myth variety) about advertising attempts where a US company has brought their product into a foreign land, and not realized that a literal translation of their name says something bad. Now, going the other way, Spanish food and consumer products company Bimbo SA tried to take away the domain name bimbo.biz from a guy in the US who registered it, saying that he was cybersquatting, and was looking to profit off of the name. The guy argued, quite reasonably, that he wasn't trying to profit off of Bimbo's name, but rather the commonly accepted English definition of bimbo: "a morally loose woman". It appears the WIPO panel in charge of looking over the cybersquatting case is familiar enough with the meaning of bimbo, and they've told the Spanish Bimbo to take a hike, while the US bimbo.biz can keep the name.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    aNonMooseCowherd, 13 Aug 2003 @ 11:48pm

    a simple solution

    I would think that a notice on the bimbo.biz web site saying "Not associated with Bimbo SA" would be enough to satisfy the company. Of course lawyers are often reluctant to think logically.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.