Visions.com WIPO – Big Risk Rewarded
Weather Shield Mfg., Inc., of Medford, Wisconsin filed a WIPO for the domain name Visions.com, owned by Lori Phan. In a decision reached on October 10, 2007, the single WIPO panelist found in favor of the Respondent, and the complaint was denied.
I believe the domain owner took a risk by not requesting a 3 member panel. Although she did a great job of presenting her case, it could have easily gone the other way based on some previous decisions. I think it is always best to ask (and pay) for a 3 member WIPO panel because it means the Complainant needs to convince 2 of 3 people that they are right. Having a single panelist is more risky, in my opinion, especially for a high value name like Visions.com.
If the domain name is worth much more than the cost of the 3 member WIPO panel, I would think it would be best to request it.
Observation About WIPO Decisions
I spend a fair amount of time researching WIPO decisions, and I think anyone who is serious about this business should, too. I’ve noticed that I hardly ever recognize any of the names or companies that are the Respondents in these decisions. It’s probably a good thing, but there are an awful lot of people out there registering unquestionable trademarks, and I rarely recognize their names. The only names I ever recognize are typically Respondents in cases where the Complainant shouldn’t have a chance in hell at winning (FCC.com for example).
I’m not claiming to know a large portion of domain owners in the world, but I know alot of the names of people via their posts in domain forums and Whois searches. To me, it looks like there is a group of legitimate domain owners whose reputations are being sullied by less ethical domain owners.
I don’t know if anyone has made the same observation before, but this needs to be stopped.
Good Reason to Use the Registrant Search Tool
There have been some complaints within the domain community about the new Registrant Search Tool introduced by DomainTools. Some people are afraid that information in the database could be used against them, and at this juncture, there isn’t an opt-out method.
There is one way in which the domain community can be helped by this tool: tracking a domain thief. I recently read about a specific domain name that may be stolen. By plugging the PO Box # and City from the Whois information, I can trace it to several other domain registrations. Not only would this allow someone to contact the former owners of those names to possibly discover other thefts, it could also potentially allow someone to track the thief down based on names he already sold.
The expense is still too great for me to volunteer to do this, but if it were to be less expensive, it might be worth an effort.
“He must not be a very smart criminal”
One of the domain world’s most notorious criminals, John Zuccarini, was busted again for typosquatting. Instead of forwarding traffic to porno like he did last time, Zuccarini was sending visitors to websites containing legitimate products. Zuccarini’s typosquatting violated the law, and he was surprisingly caught again. According to MarkMonitor CMO, Frederick Felman, “He must not be a very smart criminal.” An expert from the article:
A so-called typosquatter who served pornographic advertisements on domains such as Bobthebiulder.com and teltubbies.com has been fined again by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
John Zuccarini has agreed to give up US$164,000 in typosquatting revenue he is alleged to have raked in, the FTC said Tuesday in a statement. Five years ago, a federal court had barred Zuccarini from registering domains that are misspellings of legitimate brands, a practice called typosquatting, but he ignored the order, according to Carolyn Hann, a staff attorney with the FTC.
“He was engaging in practices that violated certain provisions of the order,” Hann said. “He had certain domain names that were transpositions or misspellings of popular domain names.” — Source: PC World
Saga of Nissan.com
The saga of the domain name Nissan.com is fascinating. For years, Uzi Nissan and the automaker Nissan have fought several court battles for Nissan.com. In December of 2002, a court ruled that Uzi keeps the name but he cannot use the domain name for the following purposes:
“1. Posting Commercial content at nissan.com and nissan.net;
2. Posting advertising or permitting advertising to be posted by third parties at
nissan.com and nissan.net;
3. Posting disparaging remarks or negative commentary regarding Nissan Motor
Co., Ltd. or Nissan North America, Inc. at nissan.com and nissan.net;
4. Placing, on nissan.com or nissan.net, links to other websites containing
commercial content, including advertising; and
5. Placing, on nissan.com or nissan.net, links to other websites containing
disparaging remarks or negative commentary regarding Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
or Nissan North America.” — Source: Nissan.com website
These restrictions essentially prevent Uzi from generating revenue from Nissan.com, causing him to solicit financial support to fend of Nissan in future legal battles. Basically for Uzi, owning Nissan.com is like owning a giant piece of land right next to an active diamond mine, but not being permitted to mine for diamonds. If he would want to sell this piece of real estate, he could potentially open himself up to a UDRP case.
The end goal of most domain investors is to sell their domain names to end users. I can’t think of a better end user for Nissan.com than the automaker. In my opinion, instead of Uzi’s public fight where he is forced to ask for donations to continue to stave off the far wealthier automaker, Uzi should have someone reach out to Nissan on his behalf and sell the name for a hefty sum. He might give up the rights to his domain name, but at this point, the name is worth FAR more to the automaker. This has become a battle of principles, and I believe Uzi might be smart to sell the domain name.
Instead of having to ask for donations, he will be able to give tzedekah and represent his family name and heritage in other ways.