WIPO panel finds GIGS United S.L. guilty of reverse domain name hijacking.
GIGS United S.L., the Barcelona company that owns TrendyHair.es, has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking over the domain name TrendyHair.com.
The case was filed against SIE MANTIC, but it’s a little unclear as to who actually owns the domain and who responded to the case.
According to the complainant, it negotiated to buy the domain name from the respondent for 2,500 EUR on Sedo, only to have the domain owner back out of the deal. But according to the respondent, it never listed the domain for sale on Sedo and the alleged seller must have hacked the domain name to list it there.
The respondent was represented by the hosting company that has been listed on the whois record as the technical contact since the domain was originally registered.
The domain was registered in 1999, and the respondent says it operates the site TrendyHair.nl and has a trademark on the term.
Panelist Brigitte Joppich found GIGS United guilty of reverse domain name hijacking on the grounds that the respondent registered the domain name well before the complainant had any rights in the term “TrendyHair”.
Although the domain might have been registered well before the complainant had rights, the whois record changing to a different owner and being shifted to Sedoparking prior to the complaint being filed may have thrown them off.
Chance says
Well, it sure sounds like TrendyHair.es is a thief and a liar !!
Trendy Hair should be ashamed of themselves for trying to steal this domain, IMHO.
What a dirty, scummy company that should be avoided and nobody should do business with them, IMHO.
Cyber Socialism says
These icann judges suck. Im sick of these dumb ass reverse DNH cases that arrive with no sanctions or penalties. Who f-in cares if there is no monetary penalty associated? Why would a company not try it? Presently the only negative is to have a little bad seo. Who cares? If i owned domainnamewire.net why would i resist filing against Andrew knowing i have very little to lose with a large up$ide?