Paris Hilton Wins Cybersquatting Case

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Paris Hilton is now the proud owner of ParisHiltonPornVideos.com.

The American socialite and TV personality received word in February that a WIPO arbitrator ordered the transfer of the domain name after she filed a claim of cybersquatting.

ParisHiltonPornVideos.com provided links where one could stream the famed "1 Night in Paris" that depicts Hilton having sex with Rick Salomon in 2001 or "Hotel Heiress."

Hilton, who has trademarked her name for a variety of products, has complained to WIPO over about 30 instances of cybersquatting in the past three years, making formal filings with the intellectual property organizations over ParisHiltonBeauty.com, ParisHiltonSunglasses.com and ParisHiltonDiamonds.com.

But it was the first cybersquatting complaint against a porn-related domain that actually marketed her sex tapes.

ParisHiltonPornVideos.com, according to records, had been registered since December 2003. Since that time, the website offered ways for consumers to find her sex tapes.  

After XBIZ broke the story about Hilton's cybersquatting claims over the site, she told a TMZ reporter that she “never made a dollar” from her infamous sex tape, “1 Night in Paris,” and that “I don’t like people using my name to make money, especially in such a gross way.”

The respondent in the ParisHiltonPornVideos.com case was John Daizy, a longtime online adult stakeholder who acquired the site in November. Daizy, the arbitrator wrote, didn't formally respond to WIPO's arbitration unit.

But Daizy did send email to WIPO's communication center in December, one of which stated, “i have talked to a few ppl, all say that i’m not infringing “ParisHilton” trade mark. it’s kinda blog making people aware of her porn past.”

Nevertheless, the arbitrator in the case said that Hilton's trademarks were enough ammunition in the case to render a decision in Hilton's favor.

"It is clear that the Paris Hilton trademarks are exclusively associated with complainant," the arbitrator wrote. "It is also clear that by virtue of the use and the repute of the Paris Hilton Trademarks an unrelated entity or person using a similar domain name is likely to lead to members of the public being confused and deceived.

"Complainant argues that the domain name is confusingly similar to the Paris Hilton trademarks in that it consists of the words 'Paris Hilton' with the addition of the descriptive term 'pornvideos' and the generic top-level domain.com.

"This is likely to confuse and deceive consumers as to the true nature of the goods they are purchasing and the origin of those goods. Further, the overall impression must be that the domain name is necessarily connected in some way to complainant and/or her Paris Hilton trademarks."

According to a whois check, the new registered owner of ParisHiltonPornVideos.com is Hilton and her law firm, Tucker & Latifi of New York.

ParisHiltonPornVideos.com continues to have links to related Hilton sex tape websites.

XBIZ calls to her law firm went unreturned; Daizy was not reachable at post time.

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