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Apple Owned Lala.com Subject of UDRP (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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14


It’s not every day that a domain name owned by a major corporation becomes the subject of a UDRP filing. According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, a UDRP was filed against LALA.com (Lala.com or LaLa.com). The UDRP is WIPO Case D2017-1351.

When I did a Whois search on this seemingly generic (and certainly valuable) domain name, I did a doubletake. LaLa.com is owned by Apple. Yes, the Apple Inc. from Cupertino, California. Apple is one of the world’s largest companies, and it certainly has a legal department that can defend its right to own this domain name.

If you visit LaLa.com, the domain name doesn’t seem to resolve, although nameserver records show that the domain name has Apple.com nameservers. LaLa.com was created in January of 1996, making it over 21 years old. Apple acquired Lala.com when it acquired a music service called Lala, and Cult of Mac has the interesting story about its acquisition.

Even without the history of the Lala brand that Apple acquired, Lala.com is a valuable domain name in its own right. Estibot lists its value at

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Is Houzz Going After HOUZ.com? (Updated)

Elliot Silver
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4

A UDRP was filed against the HOUZ.com domain name at the National Arbitration Forum (NAF). The UDRP case # is  1739475, and it can be tracked via UDRPSearch.com.

Because the UDRP was filed at NAF, the name of the complainant is not known at this time and will not be made public until the UDRP is decided. My guess is that the UDRP may have been filed by Houzz, the home improvement and home fashions website. According to the Houzz LinkedIn profile page, the company was founded in 2009. Again, this is just a guess since there are a few other possibilities (including HOUZ International B.V., Drink Houz, Houz AS, ART HOUZ, and quite a few other entities that use “Houz” in their branding).

HOUZ.com was created back in 2003. The oldest historical Whois entry at DomainTools I can see is from 2007, and it is owned by a Las Vegas-based entity with the last name Doumanian. The current registrant has the same last name as the registrant from 2007, so I would not be surprised if the domain name has been owned by the same or a related entity since then. It is also quite possible that the domain name was owned by this same entity since 2003 because I can’t see any records from prior to 2007.

Right now, HOUZ.com is parked with pay per click advertising links at Sedo. The domain name is also

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ICA Successfully Advocates to Discredit the Dangerous Retroactive Bad Faith Theory Under the UDRP

Elliot Silver
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3

Let’s say you register a domain name today. You’ve done your due diligence, and you see there aren’t any companies that use the keyword(s) in your domain name as a trademark or for their brand name. A few years from now, some company launches with its brand matching your domain name.

The company now wants your matching domain name, but they don’t want to pay you for it – they want to take it from you. Until recently the company could file a UDRP complaint seeking the transfer of your domain and reasonably hope to succeed in being awarded your domain by the UDRP panel. The company would rely on a fringe interpretation of the UDRP known as “Retroactive Bad Faith” (RBF) that some panelists used to justify the transfer of long registered domain names to owners of trademark rights that arose since the domain was registered.

RBF had been cited in a number of UDRPs. One particular case that stands out is the UDRP for Camilla.com. Here’s what Andrew Allemann wrote about that UDRP decision, which ended in a transfer ruling in favor of the complainant:

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Everphone.com UDRP: Despite Front Running, Domain Registrant Prevails

Elliot Silver
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7

Front running is the act of attempting to sell a domain name that is not owned by the person who is making the sale attempt. Unfortunately, front running has become more common, and I wrote about front running during NameJet auctions  a few years ago. There was an interesting UDRP decision that domain auction participants will want to note because front running almost cost the domain registrant a domain name.

A company called Everphone GmbH filed a UDRP to get the Everphone.com domain name. This domain name sold on NameJet for $842 in January of this year, according to NameBio. According to the complainant in this UDRP, it seems that two entities contacted the complainant either during or prior to the auction claiming to be willing to sell this domain name. Because the complainant had been dealing with entities that seem to have been front running this domain name, the auction winner and current registrant was not aware of these other emails when the complainant approached him about selling the domain name.

In the UDRP decision, the domain registrant’s attorney Jason Schaeffer (of ESQWire.com) did a good job explaining that the two prior contacts were made by front runners and not made by the domain registrant, who didn’t own the domain name at the time time. In the decision, the three member panel understands what happened and did not hold it against the domain registrant:

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Complaint Denied in TNP.com UDRP

Elliot Silver
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0

In early April, I wrote about the TNP.com UDRP filing. As I suspected, the complaint was denied and the domain name owner will retain this valuable domain name. The domain owner was represented by attorney John Berryhill.

In order to win a UDRP complaint, the complainant needs to prove that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark, that the domain owner has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name, and the domain name was registered and is being used in bad faith. All three elements need to be proven by the complainant to win the UDRP. In this particular UDRP proceeding, the panel concluded that the first element was not met by the complainant.

Although this would have been enough for the domain owner to retain the domain name, the panel decided to rule on the rights or legitimate interest aspect as well. The language used in the decision is a good one for domain name investors who own three letter .com domain names:

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Hilco Streambank Marketing Vanity.com

Elliot Silver
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5

According to an article in the Milwaukee Business Journal, Vanity Shop filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this past March. Following this filing, Hilco Streambank has been retained to sell the Vanity Shop assets, which includes the valuable Vanity.com domain name.

Hilco Streambank Executive VP Jack Hazan told me “the assets include the Vanity trademark for apparel, retail and accessories and the premium one-word domain name – Vanity.com.” Hilco set up a marketing page on its website that has more details about what is included in the sale as well as some detailed information about the company and its background.

When I received the email from Jack, the first thing that stuck out to me was the Vanity.com domain name. As you may recall, Vanity.com was involved in a 2012 UDRP dispute. When the decision was published and the panel ruled in favor of the complainant (Vanity Shop), Mike Berkens wrote an article about it and called it “a case that should be VERY troubling for all domain holders.” He also wrote that

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