California judge dismisses gTLD applicant’s lawsuit against ICANN

A judge in California, the USA has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Donuts against ICANN, over the application for .web. The judge ruled that the applicant’s covenant not to sue ICANN – as contained in the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook – is enforceable. Stating that the ‘covenant not to sue is, at most, only minimally procedurally unconscionable’, the judge refused to make any judgment on the merits of the case brought by Donuts. The company later expressed its discontent with the decision, and said it would ‘continue to utilise the tools at its disposal to address this procedural failure’.