Fox Business Network has lost a battle to win the rights to the URL www.foxbusinessnetwork.com, according to a ruling from the World Intellectual Property Organization, which handles such disputes.
The Web site Out-Law.com reports, “Fox News, the cable television news channel of Rupert Murdoch-controlled News Corporation, announced its intention to launch a business news channel on 8 February 2007.
“On that same day Worldwide Directory Services (WDS) registered the domain name foxbusinessnetwork.com. But because Fox News did not register any trade marks for the term ‘Fox business network’ until 16th July that year it was not entitled to force the handover of the address.
“The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) arbitrates in many disputes over domain names and can order their transfer if three conditions are met. The name must be identical or confusingly similar to a trade or service mark held by the person who wants to gain control of it, the person holding the domain name must have no rights in it, and the domain name must be registered and used in bad faith.
“All three of these conditions must be met if a name is to be transferred, and Fox failed to meet the second.”
Read more here. Fox Business Network is currently using the URL of www.foxbusiness.com.
