Could Grantland Interview Lead to UDRP for CharlotteBobcats.com

The Charlotte Bobcats are a relatively new NBA franchise, having been established in 2004 as an expansion franchise after the Hornets moved to New Orleans. You can find information about the team at Bobcats.com, which was purchased for $50,000 in September of 2007.

If you visit CharlotteBobcats.com, you will not find any information about the NBA basketball team because it is not owned by the team. This afternoon on Grantland (founded by one of my all time favorite sports writers, Bill Simmons), there’s an article about the history of the CharlotteBobcats.com domain name.

As you might expect, the Bobcats reportedly attempted to purchase the domain name, offering incentives that ranged from season tickets to just under $100,000 cash. The owners of the domain name rejected all offers, and they have not heard back in several years.

The article is well worth a read, although I am wondering if the article could possibly lead to a UDRP filing against the owners of the domain name.

To win a UDRP, a complainant must provide evidence that meets three tenets:

1) The domain name is confusingly similar to a trademark
2) Owner lacks rights in the domain name
3) Domain name was registered and used in bad faith

In the article, the owner of the domain name admitted that the name was registered based on three potential team names for the Charlotte franchise. Further, the article mentioned that the owners receive quite a bit of emails intended for the Bobcats, so apparently some people are confusing their domain name with the team.

UDRP panels have been inconsistent when it comes to rulings, so this certainly wouldn’t be a cut and dry filing. However, if the Bobcats were willing to offer close to $100,000 to buy this domain name, an article like this might irritate them enough to file a UDRP.

It wouldn’t be the first time a NBA team used a UDRP to get a domain name it wanted. In fact, it seems that the NBA is proficient with its UDRP filings.

The NBA did lose a UDRP for Knicks.com back in 2000, but since Knicks.com now forwards to the Knicks website, it looks like they were able to strike a deal eventually.

If I owned a domain name like CharlotteBobcats.com, I would feel very fortunate to have received offers to buy the domain name instead of legal threats. You have to wonder if the article will grab the attention of the NBA and/or the Bobcats and lead to a UDRP.

Elliot Silver
Elliot Silver
About The Author: Elliot Silver is an Internet entrepreneur and publisher of DomainInvesting.com. Elliot is also the founder and President of Top Notch Domains, LLC, a company that has closed eight figures in deals. Please read the DomainInvesting.com Terms of Use page for additional information about the publisher, website comment policy, disclosures, and conflicts of interest. Reach out to Elliot: Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn

7 COMMENTS

  1. I think one word about sums this owner up, greedy!

    It is actually cases like this that the owner may not know how firtunate they are to have scored an easy $100k vs nothing at all. Either they are flat out greedy or stupid.

  2. I can see them not being interested in season tickets. Kind of tough watching a team that has such a tough time winning. They won only 7 games this year. That must be a record or close to it.

    Around 100k is a very generous offer given the circumstances IMO. Probably would lose it if a UDRP was filed anyway. Now that the Charlotte Bobcats own Bobcats.com I doubt there is any way that they would offer anything close to that amount.

    • @ Joey

      LOL

      I would have taken that (or much less).

      Knowing that the NBA knows all about the UDRP and has been successful with it, I am surprised they didn’t file a UDRP a few years ago.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recent Posts

Handoff to Dan on Imported Leads Can be Confusing

0
I've been using the lead import option at Dan.com more regularly. Although the 5% commission is not ideal, transactions tend to move more quickly...

ArtificialIntelligence.com Goes Up for Sale

8
I tried to buy the ArtificialIntelligence.com domain name multiple times over the last 10 years. The emails I sent to the registrant went unanswered,...

EU Gives More IP Protection to Food & Drink Producers

0
Did you know that some well-known food and drink varieties are protected intellectual property regulations? Popular types of drinks and foods that are protected...

Price Testing

1
In 2022, my wife and I decided our kids were ready for some big mountain skiing and we planned a trip to the Rocky...

GoDaddy Making You Sign in to See What You Renewed (Updated)

3
This morning, I noticed something different in a domain name renewal email from GoDaddy. Instead of telling me exactly what domain names I renewed...