The original Metaxa brandy from Greece.
A UDRP at the WIPO between the current owners of the Metaxa liquor distillers, Remy Cointreau Luxembourg S.A. of Luxembourg, and a Greek entrepreneur with a similar last name, ended with a loss for the brandy brand holders.
Respondent Panagiotis Metaxas was declared a victor in this case, after the Complainant conceded that the use of Metaxa.net as a personal web site hosting family photos and ancestry information, was in fact legitimate.
The web site, however, was left dormant in recent years.
Fearing infringement of its Metaxa line of brandy that originated in Greece in 1888, the Complainant initially demanded that the domain name Metaxa.net be handed over.
A three member panel thought otherwise, and also took into account a notification by the Complainant, who also holds the “Metaxa” brand in many TLDs and ccTLDs around the world.
To be accurate, while Metaxas is indeed a Greek last name, the word and brand “Metaxa” is the genitive form of the word, meaning “Of” or “belonging to” Metaxas.
For the full Greek drama, click here.
Good decision for a change.