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Court Rules That Volkswagen Entitled to VW.NET Domain Name

29 February 2000

Court Rules That Volkswagen Entitled to VW.NET Domain Name

    ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 28 -- On February 25, 2000, the United
States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that
automaker Volkswagen was entitled to the Internet domain name VW.NET which had
been registered by Virtual Works.  Virtual Works had attempted to sell the
domain name to Volkswagen in December 1998, threatening that if Volkswagen did
not buy the domain name, Virtual Works would sell it to the highest bidder.
    The Court ruled that under the recently enacted Anticybersquatting
Consumer Protection Act, "Virtual Works has attempted to profit from the
trafficking of a domain name of a previously trademarked name."  The Court
also ruled "that Virtual Works infringed the trademark of Volkswagen" because
a "domain name is more that a mere internet address," but "identifies the
internet site to those who reach it, much like a company's name identifies a
specific company."  The Court further ruled that Virtual Works' registration
of the domain name VW.NET diluted the trademark VW(R) in the same way that
"the use of 'DuPont shoes, Buick aspirin, and Kodak pianos' would be
actionable."
    In November 1999, the Court had previously dismissed Virtual Works' $12
million claims against both Volkswagen and Network Solutions, Inc. relating to
Volkswagen's efforts to have the Internet domain name VW.NET canceled.  The
Court ruled that Volkswagen has "the right to protect [its] make and the
Noerr-Pennington Doctrine confers immunity on the trademark holder for its
actions to protect the mark."
    "We are very pleased with the Court's decision," said Debra Kingsbury,
Volkswagen Attorney.  "Thousands of our employees have worked tirelessly
around the world to develop the goodwill and reputation of the trademark
VW(R)," she continued.  "Our intention throughout this matter has been to
protect the value of a trademark that we've spent more than half a century
building.  We are pleased that the Court recognized the need to protect our
valuable trademark in cyberspace."