Flippa encourages auction of Microsoft Trademark Domain to continue

Microsoft is a famous trademark. Apparently, Flippa thinks it is not.

It surely comes as a shock after Australia based Flippa.com openly encouraged the auction of a trademark domain.

We are not talking about small fries here; this is not some reference to a keyword of a generic nature but rather, that of almighty Microsoft.

A seller put the domain name MicrosoftDynamicsAX2012.com for sale on Flippa. The seller proclaims that the domain does not violate any Microsoft trademark and states:

“I own the domain before the product is launched. This does not violate any trademark or anything. You can see the news here… “

The seller then links to the release by Microsoft of the news about the Microsoft Dynamics event.

What is a Microsoft Dynamics event? According to Microsoft:

Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 is a single, powerful enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that is simple to learn and use so you can deliver value faster, take advantage of business opportunities, and drive user involvement and innovation across the organization.

Microsoft owns no fewer than six registered trademarks for the words “Microsoft Dynamics”, according to USPTO records, one of which can be seen on this link.

We contacted Flippa customer support who responded as follows:

Flippa will remove a listing with contents infringing on copyright or a trademark, upon receipt of a Digital Millenium Copyright Act ( DMCA ) notice from the affected party, or a signed official document from a legal body.

More information on Flippa’s policies regarding listings containing potentially copyrighted or trademarked material can be found at https://flippa.com/help/forbidden-copyright-material

Apparently, Flippa will not remove any obvious trademark violations on its own; which definitely appears to be an encouragement of trademark violators to register and list for sale on Flippa domains that reek of opportunistic trademark infringement. 

That’s the essence of cybersquatting that has given domain investors a bad name for years.

In addition, Flippa responded on twitter, stating:

“It’s a slippery slope and highly dependent on specific trademark. Buyers are encouraged to make their own call wrt risk.”

For the sake of determining what is legal and what is not, we plan to contact Microsoft and describe the current situation, unless Flippa comes to their senses and removes the offending listing in the next 48 hours; something that they would do under the DMCA.

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