Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Man Named "Shell" Loses Domain To Oil Giant

Posted by timothy on from the spoiled-brats-with-lawyers dept.

angkor writes: "'A German court has ruled that oil giant Shell has more right to the www.shell.de internet domain name than an individual named Shell who had already registered the name.' It's like the old saying: your name may be McDonald, but you can't open a restaurant named McDonalds ..."

1 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Surprised? Not Really by A5WKS24 · · Score: 2, Informative
    In 1994, Uzi Nissan registered the domain name www.nissan.com for his Nissan Computer Corporation.

    In 1995, the Nissan Motor Company noticed that this "Internet" thingy was catching on and they may as well jump on too. Upon attempting to register the obvious domain, they found Uzi had beaten them to it.

    Around 2000, the Nissan Motor Company commenced legal proceedings. Read Uzi's story here.

    So far, Uzi still has control of the domain name, but for how long remains to be seen.

    The moral of this story? Be careful to ensure that when you register your surname as a domain name that it isn't already a business name. Confused yet?