GENEVA — Designer retailer Kate Spade has filed a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, saying KateSpade.xxx should be handed over to the New York-based company.
Kate Spade has about 200 retail outlets in the U.S. and globally, from San Francisco to Shanghai. It sells in brick-and-mortar stores and online an array of bright colorful items, including handbags, clothing, jewelry, shoes, stationery, eyewear, baby, fragrance, tabletop, bedding and gifts.
In WIPO papers, the company says it owns the trademark "Kate Spade" and that the domain was registered in bad faith.
Whois records show the domain name is registered to Ming Tuff on December 6, 2011, the day the ICM Registry made the .XXX extension available for public sale. Currently the site is parked.
XBIZ was unable to reach Tuff under the phone number listed on whois.
In the past year, scores of .XXX names have been ordered transferred either by WIPO or the National Arbitration Forum.
Some of the domains ordered transferred or handed over include Valero.xxx, BaylorGirls.xxx, RichardBranson.xxx, FoxStudios.xxx and HEB.xxx.