Harow.com UDRP : Future Media Architects wins it at the WIPO

The UDRP against Harow.com, a domain owned by Future Media Architects, was decided at the WIPO.

Registered in 2004, the domain was challenged by French company Harow of Paris. They operate from Harow.fr.

Complainant is a French design studio that has registered a figurative mark as seen below:

Surprisingly, Future Media Architects did not respond to the UDRP, but won it regardless.

Flip Jan Claude Petillion stated the following, regarding the claimed marks:

“… figurative, stylized or design elements in a trademark are generally incapable of representation in a domain name and, therefore, are typically disregarded for the purpose of assessing identity or confusing similarity. In this regard, although Complainant’s trademark is highly stylized, “harrow” is the dominant and predominant feature of its trademark.

Consequently, Complainant has established that there indeed is a trademark in which it has rights, which consists of figurative elements corresponding to the word “harow”.”

Furthermore, the domain was not registered or used in bad faith:

“It seems that the Disputed Domain Name has been registered and used for speculative purposes. However, there is no evidence that Respondent had Complainant’s trademark in mind when registering the Disputed Domain Name. The single email provided by Complainant indicating that there was a previous inquiry to the acquisition of the Disputed Domain Name does not indicate that Respondent registered the Disputed Domain Name for the sole purpose as to sell, rent or otherwise transfer it to Complainant specifically.”

For the full text of the decision, click here.

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