On December 26, Netflix will release the highly anticipated second season of the South Korean hit series Squid Game. In preparation for the premiere, the company that owns the rights to the series and the SQUID GAME trademark has stepped up its efforts to protect its intellectual property. According to Domain Gang, Netflix secured a victory on November 17 in a dispute over the domain name Squid-Game.io through the World Intellectual Property Organization’s arbitration process.
The outcome of the case was largely predictable. The domain Squid-Game.io was associated with a video game website featuring a logo strikingly similar to that of the rightsholder, and its description explicitly referenced the storyline of the first season of Squid Game. Notably, the domain had been registered by a Russian individual, Artyom Rutkovsky, who did not respond to communications from WIPO or Netflix regarding the dispute.
It remains unclear why Netflix’s legal team waited so long to act, as the domain had been registered back in September 2021. Regardless, the upcoming premiere of the second season appears to have prompted decisive action. WIPO panelist Matthew Kennedy had little difficulty ruling that the domain name Squid-Game.io should be transferred to Netflix.
