Apple has now won a dispute to claim the iPod.com web site URL address and will have the site ownership transferred to Apple. Fusible.com reports that the Apple first filed a complaint about the ownership of iPod.com back in May with the World Intellectual Property Organization. The iPods.com URL was first secured by an unknown party way back in 2002, according to an article in TechCrunch. Until recently, the iPod.com address took its visitors to a MP3 download site. It"s unknown why Apple decided now was the time to contest the ownership of the iPod.com web site.
Ironically, Apple has won the rights to the iPod.com address at a time when sales of its iPod media player have declined. In the past few years, sales of the iPod line have gone down thanks to increased sales of the iPhone and most recently the iPad.
Apple has had a history of buying web site addresses based on the names of its products and features. The company has reportedly paid millions of dollars in some cases to secure certain URLs. Back in April it was reported that Apple paid a whopping $4.5 million for the iCloud.com URL to the Sweden-based company Xcerion. Apple officially announced its plans to launch its iCloud service in early June but the service itself won"t launch until later this fall.
Fusible reports that in June Apple also acquired the iPhone4.com and WhiteiPhone.com URLs. It"s currently unknown how much Apple paid for those web site addresses.