Andrew Allemann wrote about the DownPat.com UDRP, which was decided in favor of the domain registrant who acquired the domain name via GoDaddy Auctions for $861. Although the domain registrant won the UDRP in a decision I agree with, I think what happened to the complainant really stinks.
In looking at the Whois History at DomainTools, I see DownPat.com was previously registered to NameFind, the domain name portfolio company owned and operated by GoDaddy. The domain name appears to have been acquired by GoDaddy when it acquired Michael Berkens’ portfolio several years ago.
According to the UDRP decision, the complainant acquired DownPat.com from GoDaddy for $3,000 in November of 2019. By March of 2020, less than 6 months later, the domain name expired and was auctioned by GoDaddy Auctions. When the complainant acquired DownPat.com in November, the domain name was not renewed for an extra year prior to the transfer of ownership.
Last year, I advocated for GoDaddy to add one year of registration to domain names purchased on its aftermarket. I also tweeted about selling a domain name for 5 figures and seeing the domain name in auction less than a year later:
I sold a domain name via Afternic for 5 figures this past September, and it was in a GoDaddy Auctions expiry auction today. Registrants are responsible for renewals, but it seems like a courtesy to give an extra year.
— Elliot Silver (@DInvesting) July 16, 2019
In my non-legal opinion, the UDRP proceeding was decided correctly. DownPat.com is a nice domain name, and it is a generic term. In fact, I looked through my emails to see how I missed that auction because I would have paid more than the auction price to buy this domain name. I guess I dodged a bullet since a UDRP defense is not cheap.
It looks like everyone loses in this situation except GoDaddy (and the lawyers). GoDaddy sold this domain name twice in less than a year. The complainant lost a domain name it bought less than a year ago, and the registrant had to pay for a UDRP defense.
DownPat sounds like a private airport security firm. After they pat it down, they pat it back up again.