24 Websites Infringing on 'Tube8' Brand, Manwin Says

LOS ANGELES — Manwin filed suit last week against operators of 24 websites, alleging their domains are infringing on trademarks registered for its "Tube8" brand.

Websites named in Manwin's suit at U.S. District Court in Los Angeles include HDTube8.com, Tube81.biz, NewTube8.com, GoldTube8.com, Tube8Now.com, Tube8Free.net, AsTube8.com, PornTube8.com, 8Tube.me, XXXTube8.com, 8PornTubes.com, FlixTube8.com, Tube8Japanese.com, VideosTube8.com, Tube8.co, Tube8.cm, Tube8.net, Tube8.de, Tube8.es, Tube8.it, Tube8.co.uk, Tube8.fr, Tube8.pt and Tube8.su.

Manwin, according to the suit, was granted two trademarks in October for the telecommunications use of the brand Tube8.

The adult entertainment conglomerate operates Tube8.com, among scores of other tube sites. Tube8 is one of the most popular adult tube sites on the web, with an Alexa ranking of 151 worldwide.

All of the domains involved in this latest suit use "tube8" in their names. Ten unnamed John Doe operators are named to the suit as defendants.

Manwin's intellectual property suit over the 24 domains is the latest of many.

The Luxembourg company in the past two years has taken an unwavering stand protecting its brands and identities by registering U.S. trademarks.

Manwin in a statement said that the websites are visited by millions every day and are among the most visited websites inthe U.S.

"With this complaint, these websites are pursuing their brand and domain protection strategy and seeking to put an immediate stop to, as well as obtain redress for defendant’s coordinated and explicit campaign of cybersquatting, and appropriation of Pornhub, Tube8 and Youporn trademarks and domain names," Manwin said.

"The defendants are one or more individuals in the ‘business’ of registering Internet domain names, incorporating trademarks owned by others also known as cybersquatters. Cybersquatters often seek to trade off popular brand names and websites owned by others by, among other things, using confusingly similar domain names to re-direct members of the public to the cybersquatter’s website, rather than to the trademark owner’s legitimate website."