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.
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  • 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.

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