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Toll-Free Vanity Telephone Numbers: Structuring a Trademark Registration and Dispute Settlement Regime |
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Diana Lock |
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| Last spring, the Federal Communications
Commission responded to commercial and public
demand for toll-free telephone numbers by adding
the 877 prefix to the 800 and 888 service access
codes. The release of a third, and future, toll-free
prefix threatens to cause a flood of trademark
litigation related to toll-free vanity telephone
numbers. Telephone numbers are protectable as
trademarks and often incorporate a company's
trademark or trade name. As a result, vanity
numbers often represent significant goodwill
investments. The introduction of new service
access codes will generate conflicts as holders
of 800 vanity numbers, such as 800-GO-BEARS,
challenge business competitors that reserve
equivalent or similar numbers with different
prefixes, such as 888-GO-BEARS or 877-GO-BARES.
Likewise, the potential for cyberlaw litigation
will increase as organizations create new
Internet domain name registries, such as ".store"
or ".firm," that will compete with the
".com" top level domain. This Comment proposes that the FCC expand its first-come, first-served registration policy for toll-free numbers by incorporating policies and proposals from the analogous context of Internet domain names. In addition, the author argues that the FCC should encourage businesses with conflicting toll- free vanity telephone numbers to utilize the Patent and Trademark Office's existing framework for trademark challenges and appeals. By adopting procedural mechanisms and legal rules that accommodate problems specific to the toll-free telephone number industry, the FCC will forestall a surge of trademark litigation involving conflicts between holders of toll-free vanity numbers. |
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Copyright
© 1999 by California Law Review, Inc. |
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