Oroskopos: Horoscope war between two Greeks – Who won the UDRP ?

A war of “horoscopes” erupted between two Greeks, over the domain name Oroskopos.tv.

In rather dated Greek, the word “oroskopos” means “observer of the hours” and it’s the source for modern day horoscopes.

A UDRP filed at the WIPO by Newsphone Hellas SA of Greece, was targeting the ownership of the domain; Hercules Capritsas, of Attiki, Greece fought back.

The Complainant operates the web site Oroskopos.gr, which matches a figurative mark filed on November 21, 2013. Oroskopos.gr was registered in 2003; meanwhile, the domain being challenged was registered in 2013, according to DomainTools.

Furthermore, the Respondent also applied for a Greek trademark for classes not covered in the Complainant’s application.

Horoscope related content is an apparent money-maker in Greece; the Complainant asserts in the UDRP filings that the revenues earned by the services of the site from January 1, 2010 until October 31, 2013, are EUR 413.504,73 (Note: European notation – it’s Euro 413,504.73 in the US.)

Whoah, that’s a lot of earnings!

A lot is at stake apparently, but the interesting twist in this Greek domain drama, is that in the past, the same Complainant filed and lost another UDRP against the same Respondent, for the same domain; the only difference was the holding company associated with the domain registration.

Panelist Luca Barbero thus declared that the respondent has rights and legitimate interests in using the domain, Oroskopos.tv, basing his decision on the trademark applications detailed particulars. He refused to declare a finding of reverse domain name hijacking, however.

For the full text of this UDRP, click here.

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