Website managers should now change their domain names if they are using 'xboxone'-especially if they are not Microsoft.
Two London-based domain names made by Krasimir Ivanov- xboxone.com and andxboxone.net-both registered in December 2011. Microsoft is accusing the domains of false presentation for using the name of their gaming console, the Xbox One. Microsoft has been monitoring and checking other domains to ensure that the others are not giving people a clue of the potential names of their upcoming products.
A formal complaint was already filed against Ivanov and is now pending on National Arbitration Forum database for review. It is not yet clear as to when Microsoft will be able to acquire the domains and other domains that are similar to their product's name.
Microsoft also said that the domains were created in "bad faith" or for the purpose of cyber squatting. Based on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers's (ICANN) Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, the term "bad faith" refers to someone using or creating a domain "primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark..."
Similar domain names tend to confuse people or generate traffic to a site that they thought is related to the company or service they are looking for. To further explain the scenario, if xboxone.net launches an online shopping service, people may purchase from that site thinking that they are dealing with Microsoft itself. Microsoft will then lose sales as a result.
This is not the first time that Microsoft has filed a cyber squatting complaint against a domain name. Last July 2012, the company won against a Chinese domain name creator for the same issue.
