Sony Pictures fumbled the corporate ball with Locomotion.com, a formerly aged domain that was once part of its media and television stable.
Registered in 1997, Locomotion.com was used for Locomotion, the TV channel by the same name, acquired by Sony.
“Locomotion was a TV channel dedicated to Anime and Western animation, broadcasting movies and TV series, which aired in Latin America from November 1, 1996 until July 31, 2005.”
After that, Sony pointed the domain to SonyPictures.com, renewing it for almost a dozen years since.
There was no explanation why they eventually let it expire, but it went through the entire domain drop cycle, and it just dropped.
As it usually happens with domain names of this caliber, Locomotion.com was immediately caught; the fresh registration date does not diminish its value.
Locomotion.com appears to have been caught by SnapNames outfit, Backorderzone, and NamePal in particular.
That means, that the domain will be auctioned in the coming days among those that backordered it. We tried with DropCatch, but they didn’t succeed this time.
Will Sony be asking for their premium domain, Locomotion.com, back later on? Nothing is impossible.
They have not trademark on the term “Locomotion” — they let it expire years ago. They have no leg to stand on in a UDRP.
Anon – Many times before, a successful UDRP has been established on the basis of a common law mark or prior use, including cases where they let the domain expire. Just playing devil’s advocate.