Nissan

Nissan Motor vs. Nissan Computer

I didn't realize this, but going to Nissan.com does not open up the web site of Nissan Motors.

This sort of thing used to happen a lot more often than it does now. Some companies were slower than others in getting around to figuring out that this whole Internet thing was more than just a fad. Typically if they wanted a domain name and it had already been taken, they would make some sort of business arrangement with the current owners.

Now, this is only one side of the story, but reading through the account of the lawsuits that Nissan Motors brought against Nissan Computer is pretty sickening. They tried to take it all the way to the US Supreme Court, who were not interested in hearing the case. There's no law governing domain names, the registrar allocates them on a first-come-first-serve basis. That's the way it's always been. I gather that Nissan Motors was trying to sue this guy based on trademark infringement. Guess what? The guy's last name happens to be Nissan, I think he can use it.