Take-Two Interactive (T2) has lost the legal fight for the domain name BioShock.com. Going to the website takes you to a site where a Cayman Islands company by the name of Name Administration Inc. or NA Media, has been sitting on the name since December 2004. This, according to Gamerlaw, was a few months after rumors of the first Bioshock began to circulate.
T2 has had their lawyers fight for the rights to the domain name, but was in the end unable to win the case. According to acquire the domain, Gamerlaw says that T2 must prove the following:
(i) that the Bioshock website registered by Name Administration is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or a service in which Take-Two has rights; and
(ii) that Name Administration has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Bioshock website; and
(iii) that the Bioshock website has been registered and is being used in bad faith.
Because T2 had not trademarked the BioShock name prior to NA Media’s alleged cyber-squatting, their case was weakened. They also said that the name BioShock is not necessarily exclusive to their game or trademark, and can mean a number of things.
Sorry, Take-Two. At least you still have BioShockgame.com.
via GamerLaw
