Attorneys Jason Schaeffer and Ari Goldberger of ESQwire.com are having a great week. Earlier today, I wrote about their successful defense and RDNH finding on the Uniks.com UDRP and the successful defense of the Meryl.com UDRP. This afternoon, Jason Schaeffer shared a third UDRP victory the law firm scored on behalf of a client.
In the yet to be published online UDRP decision at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), ESQwire successfully defended the galec.com domain name on behalf of its registrant. The complainant in this UDRP filing was listed as Societe Cooperative Groupements d’Achats des Centres Leclerc, SC GALEC.
Here is an excerpt from the decision that is most relevant to the finding that the complaint was denied:
“As highlighted in paragraph 3.1 of the WIPO Overview 2.0, when a domain name is registered by the respondent before the complainant’s relied-upon trademark right is shown to have been first established, on a registered or unregistered basis, the registration of the domain name would not have been in bad faith because the registrant could not have contemplated the complainant’s then non-existent right. However, bad faith can be found in certain situations, when the respondent is clearly aware of the complainant, and it is clear that the aim of the registration was to take advantage of the confusion between the domain name and any potential complainant rights. The Panel notes that the Complainant did not make reference to any situation that could have constituted an exception to the general rule.”
One other excerpt from the decision that domain investors may find interesting concerns pay per click landing pages:
“Furthermore, the content of the web site to which the disputed domain name currently resolves and the historical screenshots of the Respondent’s web site available on records do not suggest any intention of the Respondent to target the Complainant, since the disputed domain name has been pointed to parking pages displaying generic pay-per-click links not related to the Complainant’s business or products”
There are several exceptional domain name attorneys and law firms that are great with UDRP defense cases. I don’t think a firm or lawyer regularly sees three consecutive victories in such a short period of time.
Congratulations to ESQwire on this great week on behalf of clients!
