A UDRP that was brought against the domain name, SimpleDollar.com, resulted in a refusal of its transfer to the Complainant.
Not only that, the WIPO panelist found that the Complainant acted in a manner that justifies a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
Registered in 2000, SimpleDollar.com’s registration predates the Complaint’s UDRP filing by 16 years. The Complainant operates from TheSimpleDollar.com since 2011, after acquiring it from its previous owner who continues to work for the company.
“Simple dollar” images via Google.
According to the Respondent:
“Respondent further contends that the boilerplate allegations of Complainant are insufficient to meet its burden. Complainant’s own evidence demonstrates that the Domain Name was registered nearly 16 years before the Complaint was filed; the Domain Name consists of two generic terms (“simple” and “dollar”); and Respondent registered the Domain Name years before Complainant could possibly have acquired rights.
Respondent states that a UDRP panel in a prior similar case found complainant’s conduct so egregious that it skipped the legitimate interest factor and moved onto consider the respondent’s lack of bad faith and the complainant’s reverse domain name hijacking.”
As part of the RDNH finding, the WIPO panelist stated:
“Respondent registered the Domain Name consisting of two descriptive words six years prior to Complainant’s earliest use of its unregistered THE SIMPLE DOLLAR mark”
For the full text of this decision for SimpleDollar.com, click here.
