GENEVA (Reuters) - The estate of J.R.R. Tolkien won a cybersquatting case on Tuesday as the final installment of the film of his epic trilogy, "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," continued to top the worldwide box office.
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Alberta Hot Rods, a Canadian-based operator which registered jrrtolkien.com and linked it to its commercial celebrity Web site, was found to have no legitimate rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said in a ruling.
The group has already lost domain name cases brought by actors Pierce Brosnan and Pamela Anderson, and author Michael Crichton. Tolkien's estate has given publishers Harper Collins exclusive license over the sale of books, audio tapes and other merchandise related to the late Oxford academic.
WIPO, a United Nations agency which aims to protect patents and copyrights, names independent arbitrators to decide domain name cases in a speedy, low-cost procedure. If there is no court appeal, domain names must be transferred 10 days after a ruling.
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Alberta Hot Rods, a Canadian-based operator which registered jrrtolkien.com and linked it to its commercial celebrity Web site, was found to have no legitimate rights, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) said in a ruling.
The group has already lost domain name cases brought by actors Pierce Brosnan and Pamela Anderson, and author Michael Crichton. Tolkien's estate has given publishers Harper Collins exclusive license over the sale of books, audio tapes and other merchandise related to the late Oxford academic.
WIPO, a United Nations agency which aims to protect patents and copyrights, names independent arbitrators to decide domain name cases in a speedy, low-cost procedure. If there is no court appeal, domain names must be transferred 10 days after a ruling.
