A registered trademark does not give automatic rights to a domain.
Imagine using a brand since 1988, a domain since 1998 and being told to hand it over.
The Registrant of Carmans.com.au was served with a UDRP at the WIPO by Carman’s Fine Foods Pty Ltd. of Cheltenham, Victoria, Australia.
The Respondent, Ross Wayne Carman, is a resident of Australia as well, hence the apparent friction.
According to the UDRP, there was an attempt by the Respondent to sell the domain:
“The Respondent contacted the Complainant in November 2014 advising that he no longer traded using the name “Carmans” and that he was seeking to sell the Disputed Domain Name to the Complainant. There was further correspondence in September 2015, in which the Respondent sought AUD 160,000 for the sale of the Disputed Domain Name.”
Here comes the interesting part.
Despite having no registered trademark, the Respondent was found to have established common law rights to the name.
And the cherry on the pie, as John Swinson, sole panelist hammered down the Complainant with this decision:
“There is nothing in the evidence to suggest that the Respondent has been targeting the Complainant or the Trade Mark, or that would otherwise support a finding of bad faith. If nothing else, the Complainant is greatly overreaching with respect to its perceived rights in this name. The Panel finds that the Complainant is guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.”
For the full text of this UDRP, click here.
