If you want to learn about the Fox Business Network, foxbusinessnetwork.com is not the place to do it. That domain name belongs to Worldwide Directory Services, and, according to a ruling by the World International Property Organization, WDS will continue to be its owner.
Rupert Murdoch (Photo Credit: BusinessWeek)
WDS registered foxbusinessnetwork.com on the same day Rupert Murdoch announced a new business channel. This seems suspicious, but it took the Fox corporation a while to register any trademarks, giving WDS an undeniable lead in one area.
Also, it looks like WDS – along with its CEO, Derek Hodges – has some prior claims to the name. The WIPO ruling states, “Although the evidence is slender, Respondent has provided some proof (the Hodges and Clough declarations and the 2006 website printout) that Mr. Hodges was known by the nickname ‘the British Fox’ and that his company . . . operated an active and bona fide business that used the term ‘Fox Business Network’ in its promotion for several years before this dispute arose.”
Other aspects of the Fox News Network’s complaint lacked solid evidence to back them up. WIPO found the collision of registration and announcement dates “suspicious (and not adequately explained be [sic] Respondent),” but could only conclude that WDS’s action represented a sort of defensive gesture.
A future lawsuit or sale may still keep the matter from being completely closed.
