Apple-friendly lawyers snag iPad3.com domain
Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, a law firm that has done work for Apple in the past, is now in possession of iPad3.com, according a Whois record.
A law firm that has worked with Apple now is in possession of the iPad3.com domain.
Fusible yesterday reported that the Whois record for the domain name has changed, and now, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton (KTS), a multinational law firm, owns it. KTS has represented Apple in the past, most notably helping the company in its legal fight against Psystar, the Florida company that was selling computers running Mac OS X.
Although the Whois record doesn't show Apple as the domain's owner, it's quite possible that the company will soon take it over. DomainWire reported last month that Apple filed a case with the World Intellectual Property Organization to take control of the domain from its then-owner Global Access from Isle of Man. It appears that whatever Apple and its attorneys did, it worked.
It's not clear what Apple wants with the iPad3.com domain. Apple buys a host of domain names related to products it sells, and does nothing substantial with them. The purchases are designed solely to ensure that no other company can take advantage of its intellectual property. Back in May, for example, Apple took control of the iPhone5.com domain, after a maneuver in which brand protection agency Corporation Service Company first took over the domain from an iPhone-focused forum site. That site now has no content.
CNET has contacted Apple for comment on the domain. We will update this story when we have more information.