SAFMARINE HAS won a landmark victory - the first of its kind in South Africa - in thwarting an extortion bid by cybersquatters who had registered the shipping line's name as an international website.
The defeat of the cybersquatters, who were seeking US$20 000 to relinquish registration of the Safmarine name, came about through an arbitration service offered by the Swiss-based World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo), formed last December to prevent opportunists from trade name hijacking on the Internet.
During research for the company's impending move from a .co.za (dot co dot za) to a global .com (dot com) website address, it was discovered that Safmarine.com had been registered by Universal Artists of the United Arab Emirates.
Contact was made with the registrant who informed Safmarine that it was planning to develop a website for a client, the Seychelles Air Freight and Marine Company, but would be willing to accept a fee of US$ 20 000 as compensation for relinquishing it.
Safmarine came close to capitulating as companies like McDonalds and Marks &Spencer have won cybersquatting cases in court but only after a long, arduous process. We were contemplating negotiating before we found Wipo, says Safmarine's marketing and communications manager Shelley Rosenberg.
Safmarine then submitted its details to Wipo and the case was resolved when the hijacker agreed to relinquish the registration. We had a strong case because we have been trading as Safmarine for 54 years, says Rosenberg.
When all the paperwork is complete Safmarine's website address will change from www.safmarine.co.za to www.safmarine.com
What's in a name? A legal battle or a US$20 000 fee as Safmarine recently discovered.
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