PetSmart is one of, if not the largest, pet care companies in the United States. My wife and I occasionally shop at PetSmart when we need something for our puggle and it is convenient for us. The company filed a UDRP against three domain names – PetMart.info, PetMartVietnam.com, and PetMartVN.com. The UDRP decision was published yesterday, and the Vietnamese respondent prevailed in the WIPO decision.
In August of this year, I reported that a UDRP had been filed against the Picture.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It is always surprising to see an attempt to take a descriptive one word .com domain name via the UDRP. What was not surprising was when attorney Stevan Lieberman shared that his firm won the UDRP on behalf of the registrant, and the panel ruled that “the Complainant has abused the administrative proceeding and engaged in reverse domain name hijacking.”
A UDRP was filed against Spase.com at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The domain name is registered to Mrs Jello, LLC, the company founded by the late Igal Lichtman, which is now operated by his wife, Michal Lichtman. Attorney Stevan Lieberman shared the decision with me, which went in favor of the domain registrant. The panel also found the complaint was brought in bad faith (Reverse Domain Name Hijacking – RDNH).
The factual background section in the decision pretty much tells us why this UDRP was flawed from the beginning and resulted in a finding of RDNH:
Politico published an extensive article about High Times, a long-established publication covering the marijuana industry, culture, and lifestyle. In the article, it was revealed that a lawsuit has been filed by Merlin Kauffman related to the 420.com domain name. Here’s an excerpt from the article that discussed the lawsuit:
As a domain investor, I think it is important to be aware of UDRP filings and decisions. While the vast majority of UDRP filings involve domain names that are infringing on popular brands and trademarks, there have been a number of UDRPs involving valuable, investment-grade domain names.
There are several helpful websites that I use to track UDRP cases and decisions. The websites I use and reference the most regularly are:
Unfortunately, it looks like my prediction about the new GoDaddy pay per click-focused landing page design was prescient. Just yesterday, I wrote “In fact, some registrants may believe this is discourteous if GoDaddy were to monetize their landing page with trademark infringing links that induce a UDRP (or worse).” It looks like this was the exact issue in the ArtPetrossian.com UDRP.
Before diving into the UDRP and its decision, have a look at the landing page on ArtPetrossian.com:
