French Connection sues over fcuk.com

High street retailer, French Connection, is heading for the courts over ownership of the www.fcuk.com domain name.

The company has filed a lawsuit against a UK Internet consultancy, First Consultants, which currently uses the domain name for its Web site.

Court documents filed on behalf of the defendant, First Consultant's Antony Sutton, claim that he registered the name on 21 April 1997, four days before French Connection's application for the 'fcuk' trademark.

The retailer claims Sutton's use of the name amounts to 'passing off'. French Connection bought the www.fcuk.co.uk address earlier this month, although the site is not yet live.

At issue is whether Sutton is 'cybersquatting' or a victim of 'cyberhijacking'. Nick Arnold, a solicitor at UK law firm, Tarlo Lyons, said: "The court's decision will be based on what reputation French Connection had in 'fcuk' when [Sutton] registered the name."

He added that if French Connection registered the name before Sutton applied for it, he would be forced to hand it over.

Neither French Connection or Sutton's solicitor were prepared to comment on the case.