Mmm! Donuts!
A UDRP for the domain Dunkin.Menu was filed by no other than the IP holding company of Dunkin Donuts; the Respondent is some donut-loving guy from India.
This is the second dot .Menu UDRP we’ve seen, after Baskin-Robbins UDRP less than a week ago.
It appears that the Dunkin.Menu registrant was pointing the domain to a Facebook page. Regardless, they tried to fight the case, using some rather crafty arguments:
“Respondent submits that he is entitled to use the word “dunkin” as a domain name for his business. He argues that the word “dunkin” is a slang abbreviation of the term “dunking” which is a descriptive term is used in basketball.
Respondent claims to have rights and legitimate interest in the domain name as he is using it to develop a business providing sports training in schools in New Delhi, and in the meantime is using it as the address of a Facebook account on which he promotes his small business as a retailer of garments.
Respondent submits that the disputed domain name was registered to encompass Respondent’s basketball concept in domain name form. As evidence in support of this assertion, Respondent has submitted copies of posters which he claims were distributed in New Delhi, to promote his summertime basketball courses for students tolearn techniques for playing the basketball including the move called “dunkin” and these techniques are referred to as the “dunkin menu”.
Respondent denies that he has registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith. He argues that he is entitled to use the domain name <dunkin.menu> for his sports business and that Complainant is not in a position to object to such use as it is engaged in a different business entirely.
He denies that he is intercepting Internet traffic bound for Complainant. He denies any commercial benefit from his use of the disputed domain name except to promote his business through his Facebook page. He denies ever having received any advertisement click income.”
Give me a break!
So Dunkin Donuts did some digging on this guy, finding a whole range of infringing domain registrations, after using DomainTools to order a reverse report:
“Complainant submits that Respondent is a serial cybersquatter and denies his claims that it is merely a middle class entrepreneur who has been working for many years in the field of Basketball Sport.
Complainant has furnished the results of a reverse Whois search against Respondent’s email address which was performed at <www.DomainTools.com> and alleges that the results show that Respondent is actually an experienced domainer who owns in excess of 360 domain names, many of which copy both locally and globally well-known trademarks.
The following is a sample of Respondent’s domain names, all of which redirect to <www.Facebook.com> : <campbells.recipes>; <carlsjunior.menu>; <droetker.menu>; <hardrock.menu>; <justeatIn.menu; <kakedahotel.menu>; <leancuisine.menu; <marriott.menu; <misterdonut.menu>; <mosburger.menu>; <petrus.menu>; <planethollywood.menu>; <quorn.recipes>; <royrogers.menu>; <sbarro.menu>; <wimpy.menu>.”
The sole panelist in this case, James Bridgeman, found that the additional information undermines the credibility of the Respondent, who tried to pull a fast one.
For the full text of this slam-dunkin case, click here.
