Modern day knights fight over the St. Lazarus Order.
As the Complainant in a UDRP, The American Association of the Order of St. Lazarus attempted to take away the domain name SaintLazarusUSA.com from its Registrant, Thierry Villejust of Sunnyvale, California.
Previously, the same Complainant filed and lost a UDRP for the dot .org, in an apparent attempt to set a precedent against the current case.
In both cases, the disputed domain wasn’t parked but rather involved in some disagreement over who owns some centuries old rights to be the executor of the Order of St. Lazarus.
Think of it as if the Knights Templar fought to get some title with “Jerusalem” in it.
Despite the Complainant’s allegations, the Respondent stated:
“Respondent submits that this is a global, historical and complicated trademark dispute among obediences of the same Order of Chivalry, The Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem. This is not a dispute involving abusive registration of a domain name or cybersquatting.”
Based on all the evidence, the sole panelist, Debra J. Stanek, not only refused to order the domain given over to the Complainant, but she found this act to be worthy of a Reverse Domain Name Hijacking finding, something that was denied in more clear cut cases.
For the full text of the UDRP for the domain name, SaintLazarusUSA.com, click here.
