Nintendo Considers Legal Options After Losing Wii U Domain Case

Nintendo will "review our legal options" after the company was denied the rights to the web doman WiiU.com and will continue to seek control over the site from its current owner. 

Yesterday Fusible reported that the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) had denied Nintendo the rights to the domain WiiU.com. No explanation was offered for the denial of Nintendo's request.

In a statement to Eurogamer a Nintendo spokesperson commented, "Nintendo's efforts to recover the domain name WiiU.com through a Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy administrative proceeding were unsuccessful. Nintendo has a strong history of protecting against infringement of our intellectual property rights and we are continuing to review our legal options.

"This decision does not impact Nintendo's ability to enforce against violation concerning intellectual property."

WiiU.com has existed since 2004, years before either the Wii or the Wii U were announced. When the domain came up for auction in February Nintendo choose to pursue legal action rather than purchase it outright. 

Had they done so, they may have escaped a more expensive settlement. In 2006, Nintendo was forced to pay a significant amount to the owner of Wii.com which may have been as much as six digits. 

Microsoft is currently suing the owners of XboxOne.com and XboxOne.net while Sony does not currently own PlayStation4.com. 

The reason companies do not register these domains in advance of a product's announcement is largely due to the fact that doing so would confirm the console's name ahead of an official reveal.