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FIFA wins six-year domain name scrap
They’re on the ball...

By Reuters

Published: Wednesday 15 September 2004

World soccer's governing body FIFA has won a six-year legal battle over the unauthorised use of its World Cup trademark in website domain names by a US network.

Former network StarMedia and its successor Cyclelogic have been ordered to remove websites using the domain names CopaMondial.com and CopaDoMundo.com.

"StarMedia's use of the domain names involving the unauthorised use of FIFA's protected World Cup marks in association with FIFA's flagship event was ended through a final judgement issued by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida," FIFA said in a statement.

The judge ordered the American network to pay legal costs.

"This is a major victory for FIFA in its battle against the unauthorised use of FIFA's World Cup marks on the world wide web," said Jerome Valcke, director of FIFA Marketing and TV. "We were confident that the court would vindicate FIFA's rights."

"We will continue to aggressively protect FIFA's and the FIFA Partner's rights against the unfair commercial exploitation of FIFA's marks and any similar ambush marketing activities in the future," he added.

"This case provides a strong legal precedent for FIFA's future enforcement efforts."