Microsoft has lodged a formal notice with the regulatory body tasked with overseeing all domain names, requesting that ownership of ‘XboxOne.com,’ ‘XboxOne.net’ and the @XboxOne Twitter account, be handed over to them in the wake of the official launch of the Xbox One.
Currently listed by the National Arbitration Forum as ‘pending’ the case is the latest high-profile case of cybersquatting to hit the headlines, a practice whereby people snap up domains which could become valuable in the hope that the firms associated with them will cough up to obtain them.
A notification of the complaint will have been sent to the current owner, UK resident Krasimir Hristov Ivanov, giving him 20 days in which to respond.
If an amicable agreement cannot be reached then the case is likely to go to an arbitrator to help both sides thrash out a deal, although Microsoft may decide to sue the domain’s US owner under anti-cybersquatting legislation instead.
The latter may prove tricky however as the domain wasn’t registered till the end of 2011, well before the Xbox One trademark was lodged on 21 May, 2013.
Twitter names on the other hand are allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and (so long as they don’t mislead followers by using a trademark) are permissible under the micro blogs rules.