SSC.com Hit With UDRP (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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6

It’s been a little while since I reported on a UDRP filing involving a valuable three letter .com domain name. I noticed a UDRP was just filed against SSC.com at the World Intellectual Property Organization. The UDRP is WIPO Case D2018-2422.

SSC.com was created in July of 1989, making it nearly 30 years old and one of the oldest domain names in existence. From what I can see using the DomainTools Whois History tool, the domain appears to have been registered to an entity in China since 2013. The domain name appears to have been registered under privacy protection, which may have been lifted as a result of the UDRP filing. The current registrant appears to be based in China.

When I visited SSC.com today, the domain name did not resolve, and I received this error message “ssc.com’s server IP address could not be found.” In fact, Google suggested another SSC related website, but not the complainant’s: “Did you mean http://ssc.edu/?” A search of Archive.org and Screenshots.com does not yield any results since 2013, so it does not appear as if the domain name had any advertising or anything that could indicate it is for sale.

According to

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Hims.com Subject of UDRP Filing (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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Over the Summer, an article was published on referencing the Hims.com domain name and how it was reportedly being used at the time:

“Earlier this week, internet users noticed that the hims.com domain name redirected to viagra.com, prompting a theory that Pfizer had nabbed the domain. The theory now appears to be unfounded (hims.com now curiously redirects to menshealth.com), but Pfizer is still right to feel the heat. After 20 years of patent-protection on Sildenafil (ED competitors like Cialis and Levitra use other active ingredients), generic alternatives like Hims have flooded the market in the past year.”

When I visited Hims.com today, I was forwarded to Google.com.

According to the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) website and also seen on UDRPSearch, a UDRP was filed against the Hims.com domain name. Because of the venue where the UDRP was filed, the complainant in this UDRP will not be publicly reported until the conclusion of the proceeding. The filing is listed as case #1810653.

The “hims” company that was referenced as a competitor to Pfizer uses the ForHims.com domain name for its website. Here’s how that company describes itself: “hims is a one-stop shop for men’s wellness and personal care providing medical grade solutions for men’s hair loss, ED, skin care, and more.” LinkedIn shows that this company was founded in 2017.

Assuming the UDRP was filed by this company (which is not a given),

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RDNH Ruling in FlyingDog.com UDRP

Elliot Silver
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The Flying Dog Brewery filed a UDRP to try and wrest control of the FlyingDog.com domain name. Not only did the company lose the UDRP, but the panelist found that the brewery engaged in Reverse Domain Name Hijacking (RDNH).

When I noticed the UDRP filing, I was not surprised to learn that the brewery wanted the exact match domain name for its brand – FlyingDog.com. I would imagine the brewery has wanted the domain name for a while. Although the Whois record has been private for a few years, prior to that, the record was public and showed that the domain name was owned by a business called Flying Dog Enterprises. It seems pretty clear to me at least that the domain name likely was not registered in bad faith, and it is necessary to prove this (and more) to win a UDRP.

There were a couple of aspects to this case I found to be interesting, beyond the ultimate finding. The brewery reportedly offered to buy FlyingDog.com from the registrant for $17,000 in 2001. Sometime this past year, the company reportedly offered $15,000 to buy the domain name via broker. I am sure the registrant was probably perplexed that the offer would decrease when domain names have arguably gone up in value. The registrant countered at $225,000 for the domain name, and the complainant then filed the UDRP.

The panelist seemed pretty displeased with the complaint and let this displeasure be known in the section covering whether the domain name was registered and used in bad faith. Here’s an excerpt from that section of the decision:

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Registrant Wins Costa.com UDRP (Again)

Elliot Silver
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2

A UDRP was filed against the Costa.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and the domain registrant prevailed. This was the second time a UDRP was filed against this domain name – and this UDRP was filed by a different company. In both UDRP cases, the domain registrant was represented by ESQWire.com (Ari Goldberger and Jason Schaeffer).

In 2012, the UDRP was filed by a company called Cross Optical Group, Inc. The most recent UDRP was filed by Costa Crociere S.P.A., the company that operates Costa Cruises. The decision has not yet been published, but it will likely be uploaded to the WIPO website today or tomorrow and can be accessed here when it is available.

In looking at the Costa.com landing page, it is not a surprise that the cruise company would want to file a UDRP. In fact, the complainant cited them in the UDRP: “The Complainant exhibits an example of the Respondent’s web page which contains links to “Costa”, “Cruise”, “Cruise Line”, “Cruise Ship” and “Small Cruise Ship.” Given these links, it would not have been a big surprise to me if the complainant prevailed in the UDRP proceeding.

When I was reading the decision, it looked like the links might doom the domain owner, despite the fact that the “costa” term was considered a dictionary term. Here’s what the majority of the panel wrote about the PPC links:

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Chicago Blackhawks Try to Get BlackHawks.com via UDRP (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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5

It looks like the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks hockey team has filed a UDRP at the World Intellectual Property Organization to try and seize control of the Blackhawks.com domain name. The UDRP filing is WIPO Case D2018-2064. The complainant is listed as Chicago Blackhawk Hockey Team, Inc.

BlackHawks.com has a creation date of September 24, 1995, making it nearly 23 years old. Whois records show that the domain name is privately registered, and it appears to have been privately registered since at least 2007. This means that I am unable to tell who owns the domain name today. The domain name is parked, and when I visited the domain name today, it was showing aviation related pay per click advertising links:

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What Will the FTC Do With Army.com?

Elliot Silver
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2

According to reports on CNET and in AdAge that were published earlier this week it seems that the US government, via its Federal Trade Commission (FTC), could take possession of the valuable Army.com domain name as part of a legal settlement with the company that operated the domain name.

Here’s an excerpt from the CNET article:

“The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it had seized nine copycat websites that harvested and sold users’ personal information by posing as US military recruitment sites.

The operators of websites such as Army.com and NavyEnlist.com tricked people interested in joining the military out of their personal information by falsely claiming to be affiliated with specific branches of the military, the FTC said in a complaint filed in an Alabama federal court.”

Here’s an excerpt from a statement put out by the FTC last week regarding the Army.com domain name and other domain names:

“The operators of copycat websites army.com and navyenlist.com have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they targeted people seeking to join the armed forces and tricked them by falsely claiming to be affiliated with the military in order to generate sales leads for post-secondary schools.

The defendants, including the Alabama-based companies Sunkey Publishing, Inc. and Fanmail.com, LLC, have agreed to relinquish army.com, armyenlist.com and other domain names, and to stop the practices that they allegedly used to deceive consumers.”

Although many Americans would likely think of the US Army first when they hear the term “Army,” there are armies in almost every country throughout the world. The word “army” could also be used in its descriptive sense as well (ie “an army of people showed up”). As such, the Army.com is a valuable domain name.

In 2015,

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