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Apple Goes After iPhone5.com Domain

Apple has filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over ownership of the domain iPhone5.com.

May 7, 2012

Apple has filed a complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) over ownership of the domain iPhone5.com.

The case is currently under consideration by WIPO's Arbitration and Media Center, according to documentation on its website.

The filing was first reported by Fusible.com.

The iPhone5.com domain currently houses a discussion forum about the fictional iPhone 5. There are only four discussions with several dozen comments at this point, with the most-recent comments concerning whether or not Apple should have control over iPhone5.com.

According to the WHOIS database, the iPhone5.com domain is registered to an anonymous individual with a PO Box in Fortitude Valley, Australia. The domain was first purchased in February 2008, modified on May 3, 2012, and is set to expire in February 2021.

The iPhone 5, of course, is what most Apple-watchers expected the company to name its most-recent smartphone. But when it was unveiled in October, Apple opted for the iPhone 4S moniker. With already emerging, however, the iPhone 5 name is back in the news.

Apple owns the rights to iPhone.com, iPhone4.com, and iPhone4S.com, all of which redirect to Apple.com. Typing in iPhone3GS.com, however, redirects to c-ellphone.com, while iPhone3G.com lands on an "iPhone 3G Directory" via searchnut.com.

This is not the first time Apple has turned to WIPO to reclaim Apple-related domains. In November, it with "iPhone" in the title. Last year, Apple also successfully obtained the apple-downloads.com and apple-oem.com domain names. In March, it also won the rights to appleoslion.com, appleosxlion.com, macoslion.com, macosxleo.com, macosxleon.com, and macosxlion.com. In 2010, it was awarded appl.com and aplle.com.

For more, see and the slideshow below.