After it was widely reported that www.modernwarfare3.com currently redirects to the official website for Battlfield 3, it appears someone at Activision has now woken up as the company has now filed a domain name dispute with the National Arbitration Forum.
Their complain claims that the company has the right to the domain name, citing ICANN policy which says that the transfer or cancellation of a domain takes place if the domain is identical of confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark, the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests with resptect to the domian name, and the respondent has registered or used the domian name in bad faith.
Also included is a specific mention of the current redirect: “Such use of the domain name in connection with a site devoted exclusively to promoting a competing product is an even more egregious infringement of Complainant’s Mark,” Activision stated. “Thus, it cannot be deemed to demonstrate a right or legitimate interest in the domain name.”
The case is seemingly pretty simple and we’re guessing Activision will get control of the domain eventually – even if in the meantime, the entire internet is chuckling and wondering why they didn’t register the domain, and other variations, ages ago. The private registration apparently took place in 2009, so it’s not like someone was being particularly psychic when they took advantage of the available domain name!
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