SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Yahoo today filed a cybersquatting claim against the operator of three adult dating sites running out of the Netherlands on charges the domain names are too similar to its Tumblr and Flickr brands.
The claim, filed at WIPO, says that operator of the sites is exploiting its brands that it has trademarks for. Yahoo acquired online photo archive site Flickr in 2005 for $25 million and micro-blogging service Tumblr in 2013 for $1 billion.
The sites named in the claim include FlickrDating.nl, TumblrSexDating.nl and TumlrSexDating.nl.
Each of the sites are hosted by Totaaldomein in the Netherlands under masked registrations, and the identity of the operator wasn’t made available in the WIPO claim.
FlickrDating.nl, TumblrSexDating.nl and TumlrSexDating.nl each redirect to other dating programs.
"This is pretty brazen cybersquatting," Marc Randazza of Randazza Legal Group told XBIZ.
Randazza, who isn't representing any of the parties involved in Yahoo's claim, said that he couldn't see what defense the registrants could possibly have.
"Dutch law is very much harmonized with all other countries' laws when it comes to trademark infringement, and I can not see any result here except a complainant victory," he said.