Nintendo loses battle for WiiU.com domain

Nintendo loses cybersquatting dispute to reclaim WiiU.com.

July 1, 2013 1:10 PM

Although Nintendo announced Wii U over two years ago, the company did not move fast enough to secure the domain name for its console. Now, if Nintendo wants WiiU.com, it will have to shell out some extra cash to get it.

The company filed a cybersquatting complaint for WiiU.com in February with the World Intellectual Property Organization, but the group rejected the claim over the weekend (via Fusible). No details on why the complaint was rejected have been published yet. If Nintendo wants the domain, it will have to buy it from Domain Privacy Group. WiiU.com is currently a placeholder site with links to sponsored content.

Microsoft has followed a similar course of action with XboxOne.com and Xbox1.com domains, but no decision has been reached yet. Sony does not own PlayStation4.com, but has yet to file a complaint.

John Keefer

Contributing Editor

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Shacknews

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July 1, 2013 1:10 PM

John Keefer posted a new article, Nintendo loses battle for WiiU.com domain.

Nintendo loses cybersquatting dispute to reclaim WiiU.com.
- jonin
  
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  July 1, 2013 1:10 PM
  
  wow
- dantastic
  
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  July 1, 2013 1:16 PM
  
  you figure this is the whole point of anti-squatting measurs.
- RaptorII
  
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  July 1, 2013 1:23 PM
  
  I guess the downside of not registering domains until announcing the name kinda screws them in the domain squatting sense. Though, I don't know why Sony doesn't just already own PlayStation(everynumber).com. No shocks coming from that line.
- Maddog_Delphi97
  
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  July 1, 2013 1:34 PM
  
  They shoulda named it the wee-a-boo!
  
  http://pbfcomics.com/71/
  - [deleted] 1271987451
    
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    July 1, 2013 1:37 PM
    
    [deleted]
    - Maddog_Delphi97
      
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      July 1, 2013 2:04 PM
      
      WiiKnowWiiKnowWiiDidBad
- Beady
  
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  July 1, 2013 1:43 PM
  
  Ugh, I wish people would do the slightest bit of research on this.
  
  wiiu.com was registered in 2004, before the Wii U was even announced. You can't just claim someone is cybersquatting if you come up with a product that has the same name as a website.
  - Chod
    
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    July 1, 2013 1:47 PM
    
    The interesting part is it was registered even before 2004! The Internet Archive goes all the way back to May 2001 http://web.archive.org/web/20010520203808/http://www.wiiu.com/ registered to "Women's International Islamic University"
    - Lakipo
      
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      July 1, 2013 1:58 PM
      
      It's pronounced "view"
    - Marrbe
      
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      July 1, 2013 2:05 PM
      
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JElywbkSbY
    - AlvinKlein
      
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      July 1, 2013 2:17 PM
      
      Wow, so it's basically Nintendo trying steal a legit domain.
      - deathofrats
        
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        July 1, 2013 2:58 PM
        
        wow, sounds like it. gaming journalism, folks.
        
        [deleted] 491575983
        
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        July 1, 2013 3:06 PM
        
        [deleted]
        
        deathofrats
        
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        July 1, 2013 3:52 PM
        
        But the article is skewed towards sounding like Nintendo originally owned the domain and was fighting a noble battle to get it away from some nerd punk. 'Nintendo loses cybersquatting dispute to reclaim wiiu.com'
        
        pancake humper
        
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        July 1, 2013 5:51 PM
        
        Just because you can't read an article correctly, doesn't mean anything. The article NEVER implies or mentions that Nintendo every owned the domain.
        
        Chod
        
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        July 1, 2013 5:56 PM
        
        Using the word reclaims implies that but I see that as a mistake.
        
        pancake humper
        
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        July 1, 2013 5:57 PM
        
        I dunno why he used that as the chatty tagline because his article isn't written that way at all. I just noticed that.
        
        abrasion
        
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        July 1, 2013 5:58 PM
        
        I can't recall if it's him or someone else, but one of the long term shackers has a HUGE axe to grind on the article quality here lately, as if somehow this was some exceptional place to come for fine reporting?
        
        deathofrats
        
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        July 1, 2013 9:50 PM
        
        it's not me, and you are the last person to talk about someone complaining about somehting.
        
        But like Chod says, I have issue with the word 'reclaim', hence my beef.
        
        abrasion
        
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        July 1, 2013 5:57 PM
        
        This isn't just gaming journalism dude, this is the /average dumb person/ doesn't realise that when something gets big, doesn't mean the name wasn't used previously for something in a domain and who should or shouldn't hold that domain.
      - ovrlrd
        
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        July 1, 2013 5:24 PM
        
        Wow, this kind of thing happens all the time, wow just wow!
        
        Wow trademarks extend to domain names too? Wow just wow.
    - TwiLyght
      
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      July 1, 2013 6:03 PM
      
      What's interesting is that none of the three companies own the domains for their current/upcoming consoles. Nintendo doesn't own wiiu.com, Sony doesn't own playstation4.com and Microsoft doesn't own xboxone.com
      - electroly
        
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        July 1, 2013 7:58 PM
        
        who needs xboxone.com when you've got facebook.com/xbox
        
        RaptorII
        
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        July 1, 2013 8:44 PM
        
        That... is probably a pretty valid point, yeah.
        
        capt tripps
        
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        July 1, 2013 9:02 PM
        
        They also own xbox180
- bigimp
  
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  July 1, 2013 5:16 PM
  
  playstation#.com is registered all the way up to playstation8.com, but if someone wants to squat playstation9.com for 50 years, it's still available!!!!
- DewFuel
  
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  July 1, 2013 7:41 PM
  
  lol
- wytefang
  
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  July 2, 2013 12:56 AM
  
  Nintendo needs to pony up the dough.
  
  If someone is quicker to the punch, even if your name is out there, it needs to be too bad, so sad. Plan ahead. I mean it's not like you're some giant corporation with tons of resources and money at your command...oh wait....
- asianwaste
  
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  July 2, 2013 5:20 AM
  
  Makes you wonder if they weren't too sure about the name, "Wii U" themselves.
- oceanstate8
  
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  July 2, 2013 6:08 AM
  
  URLs are getting less and less relevant as time goes on. With things like Google instant built into Chrome, I hardly ever type an actual address. It doesn't matter if it takes me to wiiu.com, wiiu.nintendo.com, or mariopenis.fart; as long a big G knows where I want to go.