Giordana.com : Two UDRP filings and a dog web page later, Complainant gets domain

Giordana.com features an aged, ailing dog named after Michael Jordan.

It took two UDRP filings against two separate Respondents for the domain Giordana.com to be given to a trademark holder.

Registered in 1999, Giordana.com displayed cycling-related content until at least 2014.

In 2015, the first UDRP filing resulted in a refusal of the domain’s transfer, and it remained with its registrant at the time.

Since then, the content changed, and a full page about a female dog named “Giordana” was built. The registrant changed as well, and the Complainant, Pier Giorgio Andretta of Charlotte, North Carolina set forth claims to the mark GIORDANA as follows:

Since 1980, Complainant Pier Giorgio Andretta produces clothing and apparel for cycling, including jerseys, pants, leg warmers, arm warmers, caps and gloves under the GIORDANA trademark, named after Complainant’s daughter, Ms. Giordana Andretta.

Complainant owns, inter alia, the following trademark registrations for GIORDANA:

– International Trademark: GIORDANA Registration No. 529214. Registration Date: September 20, 1988. (Basic application Italy, May 23, 1988. Basic registration Italy, September 20, 1988, Registration No. 496632), covering cycling apparel in International Class 25.

– Italy: GIORDANA, Registration No. 835150, Registration Date: January 31, 2001, filed on November 19, 1998, renewal registered on September 28, 2010, covering goods in International Class 25.

– International Trademark: GIORDANA, Registration No. 1144934, Registration Date: November 13, 2012, Basic application Italy PD2012C000762 filed on July 9, 2012, covering cyclists’ clothing, etcetera, in International Class 25.

Gita Sports, Ltd., a company incorporated in North Carolina, United States, whose President is Complainant Pier Giorgio Andretta, owns the following marks:

– United States: GIORDANA, Registration No. 1435739, Registration Date: April 7, 1987, filed on September 10, 1986, covering sportswear, etcetera, in International Class 25.

– United States: GIORDANA, Registration No.1573521, Registration Date: December 26, 1989, filed on May 4, 1989, covering sportswear, etcetera, in International Class 25. First Use / First Use in Commerce: January 1, 1981. Registered and renewed on November 28, 2009.

In his response, the Respondent claimed fair use by creating a page for “Giordana,” a female dog, named after Michael Jordan:

“Respondent is using the disputed domain name to celebrate a dog having the name “Giordana”. “Giordana” is a real dog and, even if quite old, is still alive. The name “Giordana” has been derived from the family name of the famous basketball player Michael Jordan and is an Italianization of the American family name “Jordan” (“Giordano” for males and “Giordana” for females). In other words, the dog has been named “Giordana” after the famous basketball player Michael Jordan as a tribute to “his airness” (one of the nicknames of “Michael Jordan”). The dog is commonly known by the disputed domain name even if no trademark or service mark rights have been acquired because there is not any intention of any commercial use of the dog.”

Roberto Bianchi, sole panelist, refuted any such claims by the Repondent, in this statement:

“Respondent failed to prove that he owns a dog named “Giordana”, and since when. Thus, Respondent’s alleged purpose for using the disputed domain name in the website to “celebrate” a family pet does not weight much vis-à-vis the evidence suggesting that he used the disputed domain name to create an obstacle to Complainant’s business.”

Read the full text of the UDRP decision for Giordana.com.

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