Obaji.com lost in UDRP.
The domain Obaji.com was listed on eBay with a massive $231,000 dollar price tag.
Instead of achieving a sale, however, the domain was slapped with a UDRP at the National Arbitration Forum.
The Complainant is Obagi Medical Products, Inc., that produces a series of cosmetics; they own the OBAGI mark since 1998. They operate from Obagi.com.
Both “obagi” and “obaji” are homophones, words that sound alike.
Although the letters “G” and “J” are not adjacent on the keyboard, that wasn’t a valid excuse for the NAF panelist.
Obaji.com was registered in 2000, making it 17 years old. It’s questionable how known was the OBAGI mark at registration time in 1998.
It appears that the Panelist weighed the price tag as an indication of “bad faith” registration for Obaji.com:
“Regarding the bad faith use of the disputed domain name, it is clear that by redirecting to an eBay auction webpage offering to sell/auction the disputed domain for prices ranging from $231,500.00 to $499,000.00, Respondent has acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the disputed domain name to Complainant, or its competitors, for consideration in excess of the out-of-pocket costs related to the domain name. “
Flip Jan Claude Petillion, sole panelist in this UDRP, ordered the domain Obaji.com to be transferred to the Complainant.
Read the full text of the decision here.
My IP is 151.48.157.202 and I pinch italian loaves.