Domain Name Wire indicates Apple has filed a request with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to take control of the iPad3.com domain name.

WIPO has a domain name dispute policy known as the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), designed to help settle who should own a particular domain name in an ownership dispute.

The UDRP is in place to transfer domain names when a domain name is identical to or similar to a known trademark or service mark that a company has rights to, when the owning company has no right or interest in the domain name being challenged.

iPad3.com was registered back in January of 2010 and is owned by a company known as Global Access, located in the Isle of Man.

The company, which registers domain names in bulk, has faced and lost challenges with AllState, AOL, and MasterCard. Cyber squatting organizations like Global Access often register thousands of domain names in an effort to force other companies to buy them.

Apple may not have given its third generation iPad the name “iPad 3,” but plenty of people still call the tablet by that name. As a result, Apple has asked the WIPO to transfer the iPad3.com domain name to the company, claiming ownership of the name.

The domain name is not in use, simply directing traffic to other domain parking services, a fact which may ultimately lead to Apple gaining ownership.

---