Frustration and anger over the UDRP against the domain name, axadacca.com, was evident; its owner had a couple of things to say to the WIPO.
According to the case, AXA SA of Paris, France, claimed that its “AXA” mark was violated in this case, and brought a complaint against the domain’s owner.
Mr. Surridge of Margaret River, Australia, owner of the domain, responded in style.
“This website was purchased with the intention of creating a fan website for [former Guns ‘N Roses lead singer] Axl Rose role as lead singer for ACDC. Please note in Australia AC/DC is often spoken colloquially as Accadacca. [A citation to Wikipedia corroborates this assertion.] You will also find that I am the owner of axldacca.com and live in Australia.”
Although this was not an official response, it was recorded.
Robert A. Badgley, sole panelist in this case, pointed out that the landing page ads were related to insurance products and services, as is the Complainant’s mark.
Axl Rose images in Google.
The Respondent had one final word of contempt to say, however, in true Rock’n Roll style:
“This complaint is just some generalised bullying legal representation from a corporate who believes that as their company name is AXA (btw a belief that ownership of the first three letters would mean that only 19.683 corporates would control the interweb [sic]) any website that starts www.axa should not be permitted. My thoughts are www.axagogetreal.”
Alas, the sole panelist was no fun of Axl Rose, and ordered the domain axadacca.com to be transferred to the Complainant.
My Butler can’t sing