Time and again we’re proven right: even if you have a strong case, not involving an attorney in a UDRP against a premium domain can be disastrous.
The 13 year old domain, FormCenter.com, was lost to the Complainant, Mines Press, Inc. of Cortlandt Manor, New York who operate from the dashed variant, Form-Center.com.
Despite the Complainant having no active trademarks, and some valid arguments on its use by the Respondent, the decision was based on the fact that the Respondent maintains a public domain portfolio, and is listing the domain for sale.
The sole panelist, Christopher Gibson, even took into account the lapsed trademarks of the Complainant, disregarding the Respondent’s arguments that were not polished in a way that having proper legal representation would.
For the full text of the UDRP decision for FormCenter.com, click here.
I think larger companies making cases against smaller individuals works heavily to their advantage and they probably know it. Respondents are given a short 20 day window to respond and forced to spend money to stay on the same playing field that they may not have or want to spend. it’s an unfortunate situation for those that feel they have a case but can not afford equal representation. Panels do seem to be siding with those with attorneys than those without…
Selling domain names is bad faith?? The sooner domain owners sue these people in real courts the sooner decisions like this will end. I would bet the respondent could move the issue to a real court with a real judge, explain his case without a lawyer and win.
The UDRP system is a license to steal domains. Pathetic.
a simple search for “form center” will bring up almost 300,000 results!!! Form-center.com comes up on the second page after many generic references to “form center” on the 1st page.
Form Center is a generic phrase that is used throughout the world by many companies to describe where to locate, purchase and download forms for their companies or organizations.