Apple grabs cybersquatted domains

Apple has seized seven domain names incorporating its iPhone trademark that were used to display pornography.

The company filed a complaint against agains a then-unknown company that owned the domain names, including iphonesex4s.com, with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The owner of the domain names was protected by whois privacy. However, this was later removed to reveal that an Israeli company owned the domain names.

Apple’s WIPO complaint now lists the case as terminated and the domain names have been transferred to brand protection company MarkMonitor.

Apple has also amended its complaint against online retailer Amazon in their long-running battle over the right to use the term App Store to describe an online distribution service for mobile applications.

Apple filed its complaint against Amazon in a US district court in March 2011. It argued that Amazon’s mobile application developer program and download service constitutes unauthorised use of its App Store trademark, which the US Patent and Trademark Office granted in January 2011 and is currently being opposed by Microsoft.

The company has now amended its complaint against Amazon as it targets the Kindle Fire, Amazon’s e-reader device. The amended complaint stated that Amazon changed Amazon Appstore for Android to Amazon Appstore in its advertising for the Kindle Fire in a bid to deceive customers and lessen the goodwill associated with Apple’s App Store service.

Apple suffered a setback in the case when a US district court judge refused to issue a preliminary injunction that would have prevented Amazon from using the App Store term.

The case is due to go to trial in October 2012.