Company files UDRP after $20,000 offer rejected.
Frank Schilling’s Name Administration has successfully defended the domain name DataServ.com in a UDRP filed by St. Louis company DataServ, L.L.C.
DataServ made offers of $10,000, $15,000 and finally of $20,000, but couldn’t get Shilling to sell. After that it decided to try its hand at UDRP.
The offer of $20,000 certainly seems to indicate that DataServ knew it had little basis for filing a UDRP. Here’s how Name Administration explained this:
The Respondent did not initiate contact with the Complainant, but responded to contact from the Complainant concerning the disputed domain name. The fact that the Complainant was willing to offer such an amount, rather than to assert its alleged rights and demand transfer, provided the Respondent with the impression that the Complainant must have believed the disputed domain name was legitimately registered and used by the Respondent. The Complainant is not the only party who has contacted the Respondent, who has also received a similar solicitation from Dataserv Group Limited of Middlesex, UK, the holder of the junior European and UK trademark registrations.
DataServ, LLC tried to the make the argument that Name Administration should have been aware of it when it registered the domain and that it couldn’t “turn a blindeye” to trademark registrations. John Berryhill, attorney for Name Administration, pointed out that there were existing trademarks for DataServ when DataServ, LLC was founded.
It’s not wonder DataServ, LLC wants this domain: its current web address is DataServOnDemand.com.
Dominio says
It sounds to me like DataServ, LLC and their domain name DataServOnDemand.com are nothing but domain name thieves trying a Reverse Domain Name Hijacking ( RDNH ) on innocent people.
Shame on DataServ, LLC . What a dirty a company they appear to be.
Scott says
DataServ, LLC was founded in 1994. DataServ.com was originally registered in October 2003. Seems like they had quite a few years to act and didn’t. Kind of embarrassing for an IT company…
John says
There’s one TM on DataServ as of 2006. If the name was registered before then a UDRP shouldn’t even be allowed.
In cases where various industries TM a term no one of them should get rights to a .com cause they didn’t want to reg it or buy it prior to picking a name or TMing the name.
I’ve owned TM’s on terms in the past where no one was using the term only to see 10 or more start using the term years later in all sorts of industries. But, that was one factor in picking the name for the startup (available names, TM’s on term etc)
Ramiro Canales says
Congrats to Frank! John Berryhill always does a masterful job.