DB Breweries is fighting to gain ownership of the Website address www.db.co.nz from a London company that has already agreed to sell it to someone else.
Court proceedings have been issued against The Domain Name Company, which registers and sells Website names worldwide.
However, registering the address www.db.co.nz struck a sour note
with the New Zealand brewing giant, which claims the name company does not have any legitimate right to use the address.
Lawyers for both companies appeared in the High Court at Auckland yesterday, before Justice Randerson.
The name company's lawyer, Nat Dunning, argued that DB - whose own Website address is www.DBbreweries.co.nz - had no right to seek ownership of the domain name as it did not impinge on the brewer's trademark.
Mr Dunning questioned why his client should be forced to give up ownership "simply because everyone in the world has to know that 'db' means DB Breweries in New Zealand."
He said a search of the Internet for "db" would turn up four times as many references to "database" than to beers, wines and spirits.
However, Mr Dunning yesterday admitted that his client had since sold the domain name to another company to avoid the court proceedings.
IDO Securities, also believed to be based in England, agreed to buy the name just days after the notification of court proceedings.
While the deal had not yet taken effect, Mr Dunning understood it included a profit-sharing arrangement between The Domain Name Company and IDO over the name's future use.
The news outraged DB's lawyer, Kim McLeod, who was concerned that the brewer was now "going to be chasing people all over the world."
Justice Randerson was also unimpressed by the name company's actions, saying it was a deliberate attempt to place the domain name out of the reach of DB and the courts, and that the two English firms had "got into bed together."
An earlier court order temporarily restricting The Domain Name Company from using www.db.co.nz was extended by Justice Randerson to include IDO Securities and any other purchaser or party with financial interest in the name.
The case was adjourned for a week so the English companies could produce further evidence, including details of the sale agreement reached between them.
