Tag Archives: UDRP

Mon 31st January 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Person Files UDRP Against New Domain Owner After Letting Domain Expire - Former owner of domain claims cybersquatting after letting domain registration lapse. Imagine that a domain name expires and you pick it up in an expired domain auction. Then the previous owner files a UDRP against you claiming cybersquatting to get the domain name back. I’ve seen a few cases like this, including one just decided for PitRoad.com. In this case the complainant had a registered trademark for PitRoad.com*, which could have been harmful to the respondent. ... read more ...
Thu 27th January 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Apparently WeWannaBuyYourCar.com is Confusingly Similar to “We Buy Any Car” - I need a crash course in confusing similarity. I don’t know, folks. Maybe it’s time for me to pack it up and go home. Why the frustration? After reading hundreds of UDRP cases apparently I still can’t figure out what “confusingly similar” is. Today’s case in point? WIPO panelist David Perkins has awarded the domain name WeWannaBuyYourCar.com to a company with trademarked logos for “We Buy Any Car.com”. OK, so ‘we’, ‘buy’, and ‘car’ ... read more ...
Wed 19th January 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Is “Rip-Off Report” a Same as “Report a Rip Off”? One UDRP Panelist Thinks So. - The never ending stretch of confusing similarity. National Arbitration Forum panelist Jonas Gulliksson has determined that the “Report a rip off” is confusingly similar to “Rip-Off Report”, and has ordered ReportaRipoff.net transferred to the owner of RipoffReport.com. Now, if what the complainant in this case states is true, it’s clear that the registrant of ReportaRipoff.net crossed some bounds that were sure to land him in hot water. But I have a hard ... read more ...
Mon 17th January 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
WIPO Panel Hands Over VAX.com Domain Name - Three letter domain won through UDRP. World Intellectual Property Organization panelist J. Nelson Landry has ordered the VAX.com domain name be transferred to floor care products company Vax Limited. Landry noted that the term VAX was a “coined term”, and didn’t consider the potential that it was a generic acronym. That said, the respondent didn’t do himself any favors. Not only did he fail to respond to the proceedings, but he’s also lost 11 UDRP decisions ... read more ...
Tue 4th January 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Lazy Complainants Lose Two Cases to Serial Cybersquatter in One Week - If domain name is registered before a trademark is filed, complainants need to provide good evidence of common law rights. So you’re legal counsel for a company that feels that someone is cybersquatting on your trademark. That someone is “Purple Bucquet” of Panama, which has lost twenty-six UDRP cases since April 2010 to companies as big as Wells Fargo and Intuit. You file a UDRP for the domain name and Purple Bucquet doesn’t even bother responding, yet you ... read more ...
Mon 3rd January 2011
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Convoy (.com) Saved from Attack in Hong Kong - Generic domain name registration stays with rightful owner. The domain name Convoy.com has been successfully defended against an attack in a Hong Kong UDRP. The case was brought by Convoy Financial Services, a company incorporated in Hong Kong, against Rainforest Consulting of Tennessee. The respondent was represented by domain name attorney John Berryhill. This dispute is interesting right off the bat because it was decided by Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution ... read more ...
Thu 30th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Wow – Cricket.com Hit with UDRP - Cricket.com domain name challenged as cybersquatting. The storied domain name Cricket.com has been hit with a UDRP according to records at National Arbitration Forum. Although National Arbitration Forum does not disclose who the complainant is until after a case is decided, it’s possible that it’s wireless company Cricket Communications. The company uses MyCricket.com as its domain name and has used National Arbitration Forum in the past to recover domain names. Cricket.com ... read more ...
Wed 22nd December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Surprise: Domain Registrant Not Responsible for Registrars’ Parked Page - UDRP panelist uses some common sense. UDRP complainants frequently point to the content of registrar holding pages as evidence that a domain name registrant registered the domain name in bad faith. It’s a convenient argument that takes advantage of most panelists’ misunderstanding of parked domain names vs. holding pages. Consider a recent case where Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company argued that the registrant of FiremansFundBlog.com registered the domain ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Minnesota Company Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - 3DCafe, Inc. found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking. A three person National Arbitration Forum panel has called out 3DCafe, Inc. for attempted reverse domain name hijacking in a case over 3DCafe.com. The complainant argued that it had rights from its “predecessor in interest” for the term 3DCafe dating back to 1991. But the domain name owner, with the help of attorney Ari Goldberger, poked holes in the complainant’s arguments. The panel determined that ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Resin.com: Another UDRP That Shouldn’t Have Been Filed - Company files claim for domain name registered 12 years before it started using the “trademark”. Here’s another case of a domain name owner having to respond to an egregious UDRP complaint. Paper Denim Cloth, LLC filed a complaint against VertMarkets, Inc. to get the generic domain name Resin.com. The complainant admitted that it just started using the mark “Resin” in 2010 and that VertMarkets registered the domain all the way back in 1998, but still filed ... read more ...
Mon 20th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Companies Have Filed 51 .Co Disputes and Haven’t Lost Yet - Benefit of the doubt given to complainants in .co cases. Companies have filed 51 UDRPs against .co domain names since the relaunch of .co into an international domain name extension over the summer. They haven’t lost yet. Complainants are 25-0 in cases that have been decided, and further settled seven cases prior to having them heard by World Intellectual Property Organization panelists. In most cases the domain at issue is an exact match to a famous brand such ... read more ...
Fri 17th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
California ISP Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking - ISP tries to get domain name registered many years before it even existed. A World Intellectual Property Forum panel has found California internet service provider Webpass, Inc guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in its attempt to get the domain name WebPass.com. The ISP uses Web-Pass.com as its web page. Webpass, Inc. didn’t start using the Web Pass name until 2007, but the current registrant of WebPass.com registered the domain name in 2001. As such, it’s ... read more ...
Thu 16th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Apple Wins Appl.com and Why It Was a Right Decision - Four letter domain transferred to Apple based on content of parking page. Last month I wrote about how Apple had filed a complaint with World Intellectual Property Forum to get the domain name Appl.com. Apple just one the case. But before you get upset about a four letter generic domain name being surrendered through UDRP you should read panelist Richard G. Lyon’s decision. Lyon notes that Apple doesn’t have rights to any domain containing the word “apple” ... read more ...
Fri 10th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Why Did Someone Have to Pay to Defend this UDRP? - An example of why UDRP needs reforming. This was going to be a rant about “why would a lawyer take on this UDRP case for the complainant”. But then when I realized who represented the complainant (not a lawyer), I changed it up. Here’s the deal. A St. Louis area woman is getting ready to launch “Sheryl’s SHAREABLES”, a bite-sized meat product that both dogs and humans can eat. (Note that just about any meat product a human eats can also be eaten by ... read more ...
Thu 9th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Complainant Loses Case for M2P.com Despite Owner Not Responding - AWOL domain name owner can keep domain name. Casual gaming site Meet2Play GmbH has failed to win the domain name M2P.com through UDRP, despite the domain name owner not responding. From reading the decision, it appears the company tried to contact the domain name owner but was unsuccessful. It then filed the UDRP in an attempt to get the domain name. But the domain name was registered in 1997, more than a decade before Meet2Play filed a mark for M2P. Because of ... read more ...
Mon 6th December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Telepathy Wins Reverse Domain Name Hijacking Charge Against 3-D Company - Company goes after domain name registered several years before it created its brand. Nat Cohen’s Telepathy, Inc. has successfully won a charge of reverse domain name hijacking against X6D Limited, which owns the XPAND brand of 3-D glasses. X6D filed the complaint over the domain name xpand.com. Telepathy, represented by domain name attorney Ari Goldberger, noted that it’s common to eliminate the ‘e’ in words that start with ‘ex’. The panel agreed, arguing ... read more ...
Fri 3rd December 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Bible Group Sins with UDRP, Loses Case for BSF.org - Time to go ask for forgiveness. A non-profit called Bible Study Fellowship based in San Antonio has lost a UDRP to get the domain name BSF.org. Maybe it didn’t pray hard enough, but now it will probably need to ask for forgiveness for some sins, too. In this case the panel declined to find reverse domain name hijacking, but also wrote: In the case at hand, the Panel finds that Complainant’s allegations have not been substantiated by relevant evidence and also ... read more ...
Mon 22nd November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Schilling Beats New York Times in Landmark UDRP - Frank Schilling beats media behemoth; panel decision could be important. Frank Schilling’s Name Administration has won a case against the New York Times Company over the domain name DealBook.com. But it’s more than a victory; the National Arbitration Forum panel also addressed an issue that most other panels have dismissed: doctrine of laches. As described by the panel, “Laches is an equitable doctrine that may provide a defense when an adverse party has unreasonably ... read more ...
 
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Fox Loses Free Speech Trademark Battle with DISH Network - Fox may be back on the error, but DISH can keep its Fox domain names. Dish Network and News Corporation’s Fox Networks may have settled their contract dispute, but there was still an outstanding issue over some domain names. In this battle, DISH Network won. After Fox pulled some of its channels from DISH Network this fall, DISH registered a number of domain names to bring attention to the issue: foxshakedowndish.com weofferedfoxafairdeal.com foxrefused.com jointhefightagainstfox.com Fox ... read more ...
Tue 16th November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Arbitration Panel Finds in Favor of eRestaurant.com Owner - Domain theft and now a UDRP. Defending a good domain name isn’t easy. A domain name owner who has already gone through the hassle of having his domain name stolen has now succeeded in winning a UDRP to keep the domain name. Altametrics, Inc filed the case against Ryan Sveinsvoll, who owns the eRestaurant.com domain name. The history of the domain name is interesting. Sveinsvoll appears to have purchased the domain name in 2003 and it was then hijacked in 2008. ... read more ...
Fri 12th November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Is Apple Entitled to Appl.com? - Company files complaint over four letter domain name. It’s not the first time. Apple Inc. filed complaints with World Intellectual Property Forum this week over two domain names it feels are typos of Apple.com. One case is against Appl.com and the other is against apple.com aplle.com. On the surface it would appear that Appl.com is a generic four character domain name. Yet the pay-per-click ads on the site mention the electronics maker. Earlier this year Apple ... read more ...
Wed 3rd November 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Name Administration Settles Over ChilliBeans.com Domain Name - Frank Schilling settles disagreement over ChilliBeans.com. In 2008 Name Administration (Frank Schilling’s company) lost a UDRP for the generic domain name ChilliBeans.com. It was the company’s first loss in a UDRP case, and it then sued complainant Balglow Finance in order to retain the domain name. The two parties have settled the case. Name Administration provided the following statement to Domain Name Wire: Name Administration Inc. (“NAI”) and Balglow ... read more ...
Mon 25th October 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
Another Strange UDRP Decision: MovieInsider.com - Panelist’s decision doesn’t add up. A recent National Arbitration Forum decision for MovieInsider.com has me scratching my head. Is it another case of a cut-and-paste panelist? You decide. The complainant owns TheMovieInsider.com and successfully won MovieInsider.com. The complainant argued (in panelist’s words): Complainant claims that it has used the THEMOVIEINSIDER.COM mark since July 2, 1999. Complainant registered the themovieinsider.com domain name ... read more ...
Wed 20th October 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
BizFilings Loses Domain Dispute When Dates Don’t Add Up - Online business formation company loses arbitration case. Business Filings Incorporated, which offers business filing services at BizFilings.com, has lost a domain name dispute over BizFiling.com (singular version). The company registered BizFilings.com back in 1996, but for many years used the brand “Business Filings Incorporated” on its web site. It filed an intent-to-use trademark in 2000 for BizFilings, which was refused a couple years later. Then in 2008 ... read more ...
Thu 14th October 2010
Written by DomainNameWire in EN and tagged
LMC.com Domain Dispute Will Have You ROFLMAO - Some of the dumbest logic you’ll ever read in a UDRP. A recent UDRP complaint brought by FTR of Bondues, France is so misguided that I have to use a juvenile messaging acronym to describe it. Yes, when you read FTR’s logic, you’ll be ROFLMAO. FTR is a holding company that owns a number of subsidiaries, and also a trademark for LMC. It appears to be in the business of selling kitchen cabinets, light fixtures, and window coverings. The respondent is Synopsys, ... read more ...