Maindron.com – lost in UDRP.
Maindron.com was just lost at the WIPO, after a French company alleged rights to the mark MAINDRON.
The extraordinary fact of this UDRP: the Respondent’s own name is Michael Maindron.
FLM (Maindron Group) of Treillières, France claimed that it has rights to the MAINDRON mark since April 4th, 2016. They allege prior use of the mark since at least 1991, by providing evidence of a French publication referencing the founder’s name.
The Respondent acquired the domain Maindron.com in January 2016. According to the UDRP:
“The Respondent submits that he has rights and legitimate interests in the disputed domain name because it is a generic surname which anyone is entitled to register. He states that he acquired the disputed domain name for the purpose of a website providing generic information about the Maindron surname and that he will develop that website when he has the time and funds in the future. He states that there is no requirement for a domain name registrant to offer goods and services under a trademark that matches that domain name.”
In January 2016, the Complainant attempted to acquire the domain via the GoDaddy service, only to be told that it had been sold. The new owner, presumably the Respondent, sought a price of $15,000 dollars for Maindron.com.
Steven A. Maier, sole panelist at the WIPO, issued a decision on behalf of the Complainant, ordering Maindron.com to be transferred.
Read the full UDRP text here.
Absurd.
This is a bad precendent! I imagine it’s not the first time it hapens, but still…
I wonder how much the Complainant secretly paid Steven A. Maier to find in its favor?
Not so fast. Respondent may have been faking his last name. lol.
“The Respondent in this case is purportedly an individual named Maindron. While the Complainant has expressly disputed that this identity is real, the Respondent does not address this point in his Response and provides no evidence that Maindron is genuinely his surname.”
Respondent had an opportunity to protect his property and failed. Maybe he wasn’t aware of how Tucows lost a ‘Last Name’ domain with their Hover service because they did not actually operate the service on the domain. Non-use is just laziness. Domain owners need to protect and educate themselves.
Every domainer should have had an IP consultant or a lawyer, someone knowledgable in UDRP, take a look at their portfolio.
There have been many UDRP cases involving the personal name of the registrant. Normally, in those cases, the registrant will provide some evidence that it is their name.
Since the filings are not available, you sometimes have to read between the lines:
“The Respondent in this case is purportedly an individual named Maindron. While the Complainant has expressly disputed that this identity is real, the Respondent does not address this point in his Response and provides no evidence that Maindron is genuinely his surname. The Panel finds this omission remarkable in view of paragraph 4(c)(ii) of the Policy. ”
The name first had one set of WHOIS data. When the complainant inquired, it then changed to “Michael Maindron”. How hard is it to show evidence of your own last name?
C’mon.