Tony Angelo Spanakis celebrates the WIPO decision with friends.
A prominent domainer’s lawyer successfully used an “Affluenza defense” to fight off a company’s predatory UDRP.
Tony Angelo Spanakis, of Brooklyn, New York spent the early days of his youth as a well-spoiled child; the Spanakis family restaurant provided a comfortable living since the early 1970’s.
“The Respondent’s sense of responsibility was distorted by many years of good living and excessively large portions of pastitsio, moussaka and souvlaki,” said his lawyer, Dino Papagiannakis of Astoria, New York.
“Tony Angelo Spanakis could not tell right from wrong, when he registered the IBM trademark as a .com domain. We are asking the WIPO panel to deny the Complainant’s request, on the ground of Domainer Affluenza,” added Papagiannakis in his closing statement.
Greek parents in New York are known for taking extra good care of their children, well into adulthood, as depicted in the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding“.
During his 29 years of upbringing, Tony Angelo Spanakis never starved or was ever disciplined, drives a new Mercedes every year since the age of 15 and never worked a day in his life – other than one week during the summer after school graduation, at the family restaurant. His sole task was to lock the doors after closing time.
After examining the case, the WIPO panelist agreed to allow the domain to remain with the Respondent. It is the first time that the now notorious “Affluenza defense” is utilized successfully in UDRP proceedings.
The Complainant, IBM Corporation, refused to make a statement; Tony Angelo Spanakis triumphantly announced that he will try the same approach with the domain names of other large corporations.
