It's about having a bad domain name, such as Waveradio.com. When Bose -- the electronics firm that has rights to the WAVE trademark -- complained to the National Arbitration Forum, the NAF ruled that Waveradio.com infringed.
The decision provides a look into some of the legal principles involved. For example, infringement is based on the idea that a name confuses consumers. So, typically, when one mark is found to infringe on another, the two marks are in the same class of consumer goods.
If Waveradio.com had offered hair care products (that let you curl your hair while listening to the radio) instead of "...all you've dreamed Internet radio to be," I doubt there would be infringement, because consumers are not likely to confuse a hair care product with a radio.
But what's not clear to me is exactly why the NAF ruled the party that registered Waveradio.com as a domain name was acting in bad faith. The board notes the party registered it then tried to sell it to Bose for a large sum. But I see lots of domain names for sale on Websites that register domain names for the public. Did the board issue its bad faith finding because the party registered Waveradio.com with the intent to target a particular company? Did the decision stand up to an appeal?
I'm not sure and I'm not an attorney and do not claim to dispense legal advice. Anyway, have a good (hair) day!
link to decision
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