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Princeton Review, Inc. ("Princeton Review"), a test preparation service, obtained the domain name "kaplan.com," which contains the trademark of its commercial rival, Stanley H. Kaplan Educational Centers, Ltd. ("Kaplan"). In what is believed to be the first ruling on this issue, unanimous three person arbitration panel required Princeton Review to relinquish the "kaplan.com" domain name to Kaplan.

The first key fact is that the panel had to assume that Internet addresses can in fact act as trademarks. This is not surprising given the true nature of Internet addresses. Although the name "addresses" conjures up the post office addresses of real-world places, this is only part of the purpose of Internet addresses.

As summarized in the statements of the McDonald's pirate himself: "Domain names are to the Internet what addresses are to the Postal Service. They're more than that, really, since your domain name can tell the online world something about who you are. Domain names are kind of like postal addresses, vanity license plates and billboards, all rolled into one digital enchilada.â

The second key fact about the "kaplan.com" case confirms the ability of domain names to serve as trademarks. To quote the McDonald's pirate again:...