Barcelona Must Give Back Barcelona.com
FROM Barcelona.com
Press release
The Barcelona City Council has to hand back the domain name Barcelona.com
After 3 years of protracted, convoluted and insidious legal argument, the Barcelona Council has to accept they have no rights to use the domain Barcelona.com, as per U.S. Court of Appeals order of June 2nd, 2003.
All City Council arguments regarding trademark rights, bad faith use of the domain and cybersquatting have been fully denied and revoked by the Court.
On August 16th , 2003, the domain has been transferred back to its original registrant, Barcelona.com, Inc.
Without a doubt by the Court of Appeals, all points of defence used and argued to claim rights on the domain by the Barcelona City Council have been rejected.
The Court of Appeals states that:
1.- Plaintiff Barcelona.com, Inc. Did nothing unlawful in registering and using its domain name “Barcelona.com” and therefore is not a cybersquatter.
2.- the Defendant (“City Council”) was a reverse domain name hijacker as to Barcelona.com, Inc. Domain name.
3.- the City Council has no trademark rights to the word “Barcelona” under either U.S or Spanish trademark law.
4.- Defendant Excelentisimo Ayuntamiento de Barcelona shall transfer the domain name “Barcelona.com” to the plaintiff Barcelona.com, Inc. forthwith.
After these 3 years of legal battle, Barcelona.com, Inc. is going to reopen the commercial website “Barcelona.com” aiming to promote mainly local tourism by giving them worldwide exposure, as was doing 3 years ago, before the City Council broke their aspirations.
Finally, the Court of Appeals has settled this battle with the same common sense as all other processes involving geographical domains have been. Recently the Madrid.com case just to mention another domain involving a city in Spain.
The Barcelona.com case has always been considered by internet experts as the exception as to what a Wipo or a Court ruling should have been.
“Barcelona,com, Inc. will start from scratch again. The City Council has not told the truth from the beginning and expected to win this unjustified case with the contributors money. A Goliath vs. David fight. Justice exists, and even small companies can fight against a giant.” said Joan Nogueras, Barcelona.com, Inc.’s spokesman.
Link to Court of Appeals decision: http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/021396.P.pdf
Barcelona.com, Inc.
V.P. Larry Kriv
Spokesman Joan Nogueras (press contact Tel. 34609705073 – info@barcelona.com )
Other interesting links
http://www.whois.sc/news/2003-06/barcelona-appeal.html
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Domain_Names/Disputed_Domain_Names/barcelona.com/