You might want to sell this house, fast.
A UDRP against the aged domain, SellHouseFast.com, intended to deliver the 14 year old asset to the Complainant, Sell House Fast LLC.
The Complainant registered the matching trademark, SELL HOUSE FAST, in 2014 and attempted to get the domain from its registrant at some point; their asking price was $19,000 dollars.
Surprisingly, the Respondent failed to submit a Response in this proceeding, but the panelist let that one slide:
“Complainant alleges that Respondent fails to use the <sellhousefast.com> domain name to provide a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use because the resolving website is used to promote Respondent’s own business which competes with Complainant. Complainant has provided historical screenshots of resolving pages from 2003-2014 in order to demonstrate this use.
The Panel finds Complainant’s evidence sufficient to show Respondent’s business has been, and is, in competition with Complainant, but does not conclude that it indicates Respondent’s failure to make a bona fide offering of goods or services [… ] Respondent and Complainant have engaged and competed in the same business for an extended period of time. Complainant asserts no common law rights in the SELL HOUSE FAST mark predating its 2014 registration date.
Complainant’s only reference regarding use prior to Respondent’s 2002 registration of the disputed domain name is to the date of first use on its trademark application which is listed as 2000. A date of first use on a trademark registration record, without more, establishes only what it says, which is the date the registrant first used the mark. Mere initial use of a mark does not establish any exclusive rights at that time.”
With all that in mind, the National Arbitration Forum panelist, Darryl C. Wilson, ordered that SellHouseFast.com should remain with its registrant.
For the full text of this UDRP click here.
