AOL has sued file-swapping service Aimster, alleging that
Aimster is using the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) trade mark to
deliberately confuse AOL customers. The lawsuit comes just one
month after a US arbitration panel ruled that the domain name
aimster.com should be transferred to the ISP division of AOL Time
Warner.
A split 2-1 decision by a panel of the National Arbitration
Forum ruled that the domain name and other similar names owned by
Aimster were confusingly similar to AOL’s trade mark in the AIM
brand, were registered and being used in bad faith, and were owned
without legitimate rights or interests. Aimster has since asked a
court to overturn that decision.
Aimster’s CEO Johnny Deep has said that the Aimster name was
originally derived from two sources, and neither is related to
AOL’s AIM service. Mr Deep’s daughter is nicknamed Aimee and she
serves as an unofficial mascot to the operation. Also, the Aimster
corporate logo includes a bull’s eye.
However, although it has since been re-configured, when Aimster
originally launched 10 months ago, it piggybacked its service on
AOL’s AIM platform and most people assumed the name was a reference
to AIM and Napster.
