Another Internet gaming site house found itself amid a cybersquatting squabble. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported last week that the Menominee Indian tribe in Wisconsin, operator of Menominee Casino, Bingo & Hotel, has filed a cybersquatting is suing a several entities for alleged trademark cyberpiracy, false advertising, misappropriation, and interference with business relationships, conspiracy and restraint of trade.
The defendants named in the suit are Thomas Weitz; his business, Neat n' Clean Inc., and two of its divisions, Domains 4 Lease and World Vision; Native Advertising, an Antigua corporation; and Network Solutions, the company which originally sold the nearly two dozen Internet domains at the center of the dispute.
The tribe complains that Weitz registered the names and then offered to sell them to the tribe for $575,000. When the tribe refused and instead, demanded he give up the domain names, Weitz joined up with Native Advertising. The disputed names were then linked to an online gaming site, "which are
activities which would be illegal for the plaintiff to pursue," the suit says. Among the names under dispute are "menomineenation.com," "menomineecasino.org," "keshena.com," and "menomineegaming.com."
Weitz told MJS that he no longer owns the names. "I don't believe they (the tribe) have trademarks on any of their names, " he said. "If you don't have a trademark, the Internet's a big place."
The suit claims both "Menominee" and "Keshena" qualify for trademark status because they are "famous marks" as defined by federal trademark law. (The complaint specifies that Keshena is the tribal government seat.)
The tribe has asked for an injunction preventing the defendants from using the disputed names. It has also asked Network Solutions to revoke registration of the names and seeks payment of damages from the defendants.