Rapper/actor Will
Smith has won the rights to the domain name willsmith.tv, after the original owner
failed to respond to Smith’s claims of abuse of the domain on the internet.
The domain willsmith.tv was registered by “Barney Rubble”
of Vancouver, British Columbia in November of 2004.
In October of 2005, Smith filed a complaint with the National Arbitration Forum,
one of the world’s leading providers of alternative dispute resolution solutions.
The rapper claimed the willsmith.tv domain name was infringing
upon his Will Smith trademark, which he registered with the United States Patent
and Trademark Office in Feb. 2002.
In addition to infringing on his Will Smith trademark, a panel
of arbitrators found that “Barney Rubble” had attempted to sell
the domain name back to Smith and used the website to advertise various products,
including materials to cultivate marijuana.
"Respondent intentionally registered a domain name that
contains, in its entirety, Complainant’s well-known mark and did so for
Respondent’s commercial gain,” a panel wrote in their decision.
“Respondent’s domain name diverts Internet users seeking Complainant’s
Will Smith’s mark to Respondent’s commercial website through the
use of a domain name that is identical to Complainant’s mark.”
Furthermore, “Barney
Rubble” never responded to Smith’s claims, which led to the domain
name being transferred to Smith.
