Bruce Springsteen has lost his attempt to evict a fan club from an internet website which bears his name.

The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) ruled that the Bruce Springsteen Club had not violated the New Jersey rock singer's rights by registering the website brucespringsteen.com.

The decision is a rare loss for a celebrity before the United Nations agency which protects trademarks and patents.

Actresses Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman, tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, as well as pop singer Madonna have all won similar cases.

'Legitimate interests'

British rock star Sting also failed in his attempt after WIPO ruled that Sting was a common word in the English language.

WIPO ruled that Canadian Jeff Burgar, who registered the Springsteen site, had "demonstrated that he has some rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name and [Springsteen] has failed to demonstrate that that the domain name was registered and has been used in bad faith".

The panel said Springsteen had put forward no evidence that Burgar had ever tried to sell the domain name.

More than 2,000 cybersquatting cases have been filed with WIPO since December 1999, with around 80% ordered to be transferred.