The decision, issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization on Friday, is the first alleged cybersquatting case concerning a country domain name brought to the United Nations agency, according to WIPO assistant-director Francis Gurry.

"It is the first country case," Gurry said.

Seattle firm can keep domain

In a unanimous ruling, three neutral arbitrators named by WIPO found that New Zealand had not registered the disputed name as a trademark. They ruled that Virtual Countries, Inc., a company based in Seattle which registered the site in the United States in 1996, had not acted in bad faith.

The site, which calls itself a "window on New Zealand," offers information for tourists, immigrants and students.

New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy which has retained Britain's Queen Elizabeth as its head of state. The case was filed against Virtual by "Her Majesty the Queen, in right of her government in New Zealand, as trustee for the citizens, organizations and state of New Zealand."

The site carries a disclaimer that it is "not affiliated with any government entity associated with a name similar to the site domain name."

Parties to a WIPO dispute have 10 days to appeal a decision.