F45.com is most likely the youngest LNN .com in the world, having dropped and re-registered three days ago.
When the DropCatch auction completes, F45.com will be won by the highest bidder. The ongoing auction ends in a few hours, with a currently high bid at $13,050 dollars.
F45.com has a history though that might affect how it can be used either as a brand or as domain asset.
We reported the domain’s theft in 2017, as the trophy of a serial domain thief, Oleksandar Shapoval.
The thief from Ukraine stole the domain from renowned photographer, Rolfe Horn. At some point, the thief moved the domain to an account at Name.com and that’s when a UDRP was filed by a company that uses the “F45” brand. That UDRP failed and the domain remained locked since, with the thief being unable to sell or transfer it out.
So is this domain subject to legal action by its original owner, Rolfe Horn?
While the theft took place quite some time ago, a domain’s deletion and a re-registration does not wash a domain clean, in our opinion.
Just like buying stolen physical property, the act of theft and the asset’s identification as “stolen” remain after a sale occurs—even if the buyer were not aware of the property’s status.
It’d be interesting to see what happens next so we’ll update this post with any new findings about the domain name F45.com.
Update: The DropCatch auction closed at $49,544 dollars.
