According to UDRPSearch.com, a UDRP has been filed against the valuable 4 letter Lago.com domain name. The UDRP was filed at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and it is WIPO case D2017-0206.
Lago.com was created over 20 years ago, in May of 1995. The Whois information for Lago.com is currently private. Using DomainTools Whois history search, I see that the domain name was registered to an entity called Lago Advisors, LLC back in 2012 before it went private. Despite the privacy protection on the Whois, I could still see the name of the registrant through mid 2015, and the same owner was listed. It is possible that the same entity still owns the domain name, although the Whois information is currently private and I don’t know.
When I visited Lago.com this morning, I see a standard GoDaddy landing page. Using Archive.org, I can see that Lago.com had been used in the past by a company that had Lago in its name. A Screenshots.com entry from mid-2016 shows a password protected WordPress page on Lago.com.
The UDRP was filed by an entity called Lago S.p.A. A Google search for that company name shows that this UDRP could have been filed by the entity that operates a website on Lago.it. This appears to be a rather large design company. On that company’s about page, it states that “LAGO’s turnover is about 30 million euros and the company has a staff of around 170 employees.”
There are many reasons for why Lago.com is a valuable domain name. Lago has meaning in several languages, making it desirable to many potential suiters around the world. There are many companies that use Lago in their branding, and quite a few entities that use LAGO as an acronym for something. Further, and probably the least important reason for value is that it is a pronounceable four letter .com domain name. Estibot lists the current value of Lago.com at $116,000. I think it is very clear that the domain name is quite valuable, and the value has nothing to do with the complainant (which I had not know about until research for this article).
Despite the apparent fact that the complainant has been in business for a long time, I am not sure how it will be able to prove all three aspects of the UDRP in order to win. There are many companies who could conceivably claim a right to Lago.com, so without knowing any private details, I don’t see how a UDRP panel could take the domain name from the domain owner and award it to the complainant.
I will share an update when the decision is made public.
Update (4/3/17): According to UDRPSearch.com, this UDRP was terminated. The domain name is still privately registered and resolves to a GoDaddy landing page. As of now, it does not appear to have changed hands, but due to the circumstances, I am not able to see for sure.
IMHO zero chances for Lago S.p.A. to get this domain.
They have no TM predating the name registration date (their first TM is from 2010 …), and, as far as I can see, there is no sign of bad faith in use either, the name has been legitimately used by a different company.
Another ill-advised company …
BTW, “lago” also means “lake” in Italian. 🙂
The last sentence of the last paragraph shoud read:
“I don’t see how a UDRP panel could take the domain name from the domain owner and award it to the COMPLAINANT.”
Yes – thank you!
Changed.
On Feb 3 I sent an email to Lago Spa decision makers explaining them why IMHO they had no chances of getting the name through a UDRP.
They were represented by a large, well-known Italian IP law firm.
Now I see the UDRP has been terminated, I guess probably they also understood they had zero chances to get it that way … 🙂