The domain names perfumebay.com and perfume-bay.com looked a little too much like online marketplace eBay’s trademarked name, an appeals court has ruled.
Jacquelyn Tran received another defeat as the Ninth Circuit Court upheld a lower court’s ruling against her domain names. EBay will be glad to see her domains depart in favor of a non-offending replacement.
An AP report said the appeals court agreed that the names hewed too closely to eBay’s trademarks, and ordered Tran to find a new domain name.
Tran had argued the names were not imitative of eBay, but evocative of “a bay filled with ships importing perfumes from all parts of the world.” eBay felt they were evocative of the long-time online auction and marketplace site, citing potential customer confusion about the site’s name.
Health & Beauty has been an eBay category feature for some time, and a handful of eBay’s sellers deal in perfume. That’s likely one area where eBay saw possible confusion happening, but they have a history of going after other commerce websites with “bay” in their names.
Tran promised on her MakesNoScents blog to continue fighting eBay by seeking an emergency stay of injunction, as well as appealing to the Supreme Court.
