How on earth can you proclaim to be a famous brand of Italian pasta, formed in 1886, and not protect your brand internationally?
F.lli De Cecco S.p.A. of Naples, Italy, did just that, when they allowed their domain Dececco.com to lapse three years ago.
In an interesting twist, the domain was registered in 1996 by the US distributor of Dececco, which has been using Dececco.it all along.
Regardless, the domain was not renewed and apparently it was auctioned on NameJet.
According to the UDRP filing:
“In the course of 2003, the US company assigned to the Complainant the trademark for DECECCO which that US company had registered in the USA. Further, by October 11, 2004, the registration of the disputed domain name had been transferred to the Complainant. The disputed domain name remained inactive. By February 22, 2013, the Complainant allowed the registration of the disputed domain name to lapse.”
A Chinese agricultural product company acquired it three full years ago, in May 2013. The Italians woke up from an apparent carb-induced stupor, and filed the UDRP.
A three member panel examined the evidence, delivering a decision that ordered the transfer of the domain, Dececco.com, to the Complainant.
“It does not seem very likely to the Panel that an agricultural business, or a person engaged in an agricultural business, in China would register a domain name for its significance as an Italian surname. Rather, it is much more likely that the Respondent recognised the trademark significance of the disputed domain name and registered it to take advantage of that in some way.”
Part of the argument was that the domain is a generic, common last name; the Respondent, however, is in the food business, and thus more prone to have registered it for the Italian brand it represents.
For the full text of this UDRP decision, click here.
