Pearl Jam Wins Arbitration Suit
Pearl Jam has won an arbitration hearing regarding the rights to the domain name PearlJams.com.
The band filed a complaint electronically with the National Arbitration Forum in November asserting legal rights to that domain name, which was registered by Vertical Axis in August. The arbitration panel found that the site was being used without permission to refer users to commercial web sites unrelated to Pearl Jam.
Arbitrator Bruce Meyerson says PearlJams.com is "confusingly similar" to the Pearl Jam trademark and that Vertical Axis is using the address in bad faith for commercial gain. The panel ordered Vertical Axis to surrender the domain name to Pearl Jam. Vertical Axis did not submit a response in the case and was unable to be reached for comment.