Telkom wins domain name dispute

Telkom lodged a complaint with the SA Institute of Intellectual Property Law (SAIIPL) after a company, Cool Ideas, refused to transfer the domain name telkommedia.co.za. The name was registered by Cool Ideas in September 2006 and shortly after Telkom Media announced its intention to start a subscription television service. Although this is not the first case to be decided in terms of the regulations, it is the first in SA in which the adjudicator ordered a transfer of the domain name. The decision was published on July 13 by the SAIIPL and found Telkom had succeeded in showing it had claim to the name Telkom, as it is similar to the domain name. It also found the registration of the domain name by Cool Ideas was an abusive registration. The adjudicator, Andre van der Merwe, also found Cool Ideas registered the domain name to intentionally block Telkom from registering the name and aimed at disrupting Telkom and its subsidiary Telkom Media\'s business. Full ITWeb report