A UDRP was recently filed against the high value Skill.com domain name at the World Intellectual Property Organization. Skill.com is a fully developed business, and the complainant in the UDRP is a company called Skillful Communications, Inc. You don’t often see such a valuable domain name become the target of a UDRP proceeding.
John Berryhill is a highly respected Intellectual Property attorney who has made a name for himself in the domain name industry. John has successfully defended many valuable domain names over the years, and he is one of the most knowledgeable attorneys when it comes to domain name law.
John took notice of the UDRP filing and shared some of his thoughts based on what he found looking through trademark filings and other public records.
UDRP filed against the dictionary word @skilldotcom Skill .com. pic.twitter.com/7oog1TwgVn
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 16, 2022
Let’s have a look under the hood. The registrant of skill. com is apparently Scout Exchange / Aquent, which has had the domain name for more than a decade, per the 2007 @domaintools screenshot… pic.twitter.com/ogM3yA8B9P
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 17, 2022
The Complainant recently obtained a US TM registration for “SKILL” based on claimed first use in April 2020… pic.twitter.com/QdLK0MfZF1
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 17, 2022
One problem is that the Complainant doesn’t seem to show up as a NY corporation. A bigger problem is that the Complainant used skill .net as the specimen of use, but… pic.twitter.com/jqZ7J13fu8
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 17, 2022
The Complainant didn’t actually BUY skill .net until August 2020… pic.twitter.com/BnzjDIbeFF
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 17, 2022
So, is @skillful as dumb as she seems for going after the @skilldotcom domain name? Well, judging by Ms. Chipperson’s work thus far… pic.twitter.com/2Mgf5dhHbM
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 17, 2022
And here’s what that “1 Rockefeller Plaza” address costs @skillful pic.twitter.com/dWOtxSzxwH
— John Berryhill (@Berryhillj) March 17, 2022
Hopefully the registrant of Skill.com hires an expert attorney like John Berryhill to defend this valuable brand and domain name asset.
The ChippersonLaw.com website shows three offices (none with a Rockefeller address):
Morristown Location
163 Madison Ave, Suite 220-40
Morristown, New Jersey 07960
Princeton Location
103 Carnegie Center, Suite 300
Princeton, New Jersey 08542
New York City Location
1250 Broadway, 36th Floor
New York, New York 10001
There has to be something more to this like the Skillfull.com folks spilt from Skill.com,
Maybe a Partnership dispute ?
I am at a loss – otherwise I guess I may have another reason for owning Disbarred.com ?
That is the address of the alleged trademark owner.
I found my thrill…on…John Berryhill….
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!
https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/case.jsp?case=D2022-0910
Domain name(s) skill.com
Decision Date 26-05-2022
Decision Transfer
Ok, this should be an interesting read.
There is a small chance it is transcribed wrong on the WIPO website. We shall see…
You called it right – https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/pdf/2022/d2022-0910.pdf
Denied.