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Porsche Scares 48 Registrants into Giving Up Internet Domain Names

18 March 1999

Porsche Announces 48 Registrants Agree to Cancel Internet Domain Names Using the Porsche Trademark

    ATLANTA, March 17 -- Porsche Cars North America (PCNA) today
revealed 48 of 128 registrants named in an in rem lawsuit filed against
Internet domain names using the trademark Porsche and Boxster have agreed to
cancel their Internet domain names. As a result, these domain names will be
dismissed from the lawsuit pursuant to Declarations of Cancellation of
Internet Domain Names signed by the registrants.
    PCNA filed the lawsuit on Jan. 6, 1999, in the United States District
Court for the District of Virginia. On Jan. 28, 1999, PCNA served the
Complaint in the lawsuit on the various registrants throughout the world by
United States Mail pursuant to the court's order permitting such service and
notice. Those 48 registrants who have since signed the Declarations of
Cancellation agreed to cancel the domain names they had registered and also
agreed not to register domain names that use the trademark Porsche or Boxster
in the future.
    "Over the past month we have received numerous phone calls from various
registrants whose domain names have been named as defendants in the lawsuit,"
said Patricia R. Britton, PCNA general counsel. "The vast majority of them
recognized the harm that is being caused by their unauthorized use of the
Porsche trademarks, and have willingly agreed to cease and desist from such
use.
    "We hope the remaining registrants will come to this recognition as well.
We also hope that as the March 31, 1999, deadline for foreign registrants to
file an answer in the lawsuit approaches, we will receive more Declarations of
Cancellation."