A company called David Briggs Enterprises, Inc., operators of Fat Tuesday, filed a UDRP on FatTuesday.com. The National Arbitration Forum panel ruled in favor of the complainant, and the FatTuesday.com domain name will be transferred unless legal action is taken by the domain name registrant.
Andrew Allemann published an article about the FatTuesday.com UDRP decision, and I agree with what he wrote. “No, no and no. It’s THE NAME OF A HOLIDAY! It doesn’t matter if a company has been able to also trademark the name for limited purposes.”
When I wrote about the $16,500 sale of FatTuesday.com back in 2007, I said, “In my opinion, the biggest steal was FatTuesday.com, which sold for just $16,500. This is the perfect domain name for a website about New Orleans and Mardi Gras. There is also a famous bar with locations throughout the east coast called Fat Tuesday, and they own the domain name Fat-Tuesday.com.”
In response to my article, Mike Berkens commented, “I was in on the fattuesday.com auction and although I think the domain sold at a nice price the trademark and possible issues related to the chain you referred to was built into the price, that is without such issues i think the domain would have went higher. I do think there is some risk in owning the domain.”
I opined that it was a defensible domain name, and he agreed. He stated further, “I agree that the domain is “very defensible” but you have to take into account in acquiring a name such as this the potential litigation and legal fees in defending the domain and the risk that the domain could be taken. I have seen less “risky” domains taken on weaker trademark arguments. That is not to say I think the owner will lose the name, just that it deflates the value..”
Unfortunately at this point, it looks like the owner is going to lose this domain name unless legal action is taken. My guess is that will happen, but we shall see. I will monitor this domain name’s Whois record to see if it is transferred to the complainant, and I will also be on the lookout for any legal filing.
If they do litigate and win what do you think the value of FatTuesday.com will increase to? Any thoughts?
Mid to high $xx,xxx IMHO.
We all know what the auction winner of this domain in 2007 was getting into. If there is a trademark in the US and the buyer is in the US, then this is not a defendable URDP, recipe for disaster. I’ve seen many of this high risk investments, and the owners just cross their fingers so the legal trademarker doesn’t file URDP, but they will have to bite the bullet if that happens. No need to cry if they know what they are getting into. Worse will be to file a civil or legal action, spending more money and still loosing the domain due to trademark. Auction winner ended up being a big loser.
Let’s have an update as soon as you get more information.
Never heard of the complainant in my life, but sure have known about “fat Tuesday” for a very long time, and I’ve never lived anywhere near New Orleans or Louisiana. “Mardi Gras” even means “fat Tuesday.” This is not merely a defensible domain, but this is a shameful decision and whoever did it should be fired. Can they be fired?