The UDRP Blog™

In TPS Parking Management, LLC v. Liujunyao , WIPO Case No. D2018-2252 (Douglas Clark, December 11, 2018), the Panel ordered the transfer of theparkingspotcoupon.com to TPS Parking Management, LLC, owner of the THEPARKINGSPOT and SPOT trademarks. The individual Respondent did not submit a response. As always, Complainant was tasked with satisfying the three elements of a UDRP claim, namely: 1. The disputed domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; 2. Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the disputed domain name; and 3. The disputed domain name has been registered and used in bad faith. These elements are discussed in turn below. Regarding the first element, the Panel readily determined that the disputed domain was confusingly similar to Complainant's trademark, as the disputed domain includes the entirety of the THEPARKINGSPOT trademark, with the mere addition of the d...

  In Jazz Basketball Investors, Inc. v. WhoisguardProtected,Whoisguard, Inc. / Big Shen, Joan Bristol , WIPO Case No. D2017-0031 (Desmond J. Ryan, March 8, 2017), the Panel ordered the transfer of jazzbasketballteamshop.com to Complainant, the owner of the Utah Jazz professional basketball team. It was a fairly straightforward case where Respondent had about as much chance of retaining the domain name as the Washington Generals had of beating the Harlem Globetrotters through history (random basketball history fact: the Generals only won once against the Globetrotters, due to an accidental time clock error, after losing 2,495 straight games). For this reason, Respondent didn’t even show up for the game (it defaulted). Complainant swooshed a three pointer in this one, satisfying all three factors necessary to prevail in a UDRP complaint. First, it easily demonstrated that the disputed domain name was confusingly similar to a trademark in which Complainant had ...

My view of Big Brown just prior to post time It wasn't even close. Big Brown, the 1-5 favorite (that is 1-5, not 5-1!) to win the Preakness, delivered another convincing first place finish and moved one win away from being the first Triple Crown winner in 30 years. The prized thoroughbred and its namesake, United Parcel Service ("UPS"), are undefeated both in racing and before WIPO. After Big Brown claimed the roses at the Kentucky Derby, I reviewed a contemporaneous UDRP victory for UPS, here . Another win, another post for Big Brown. In United Parcel Service of America Inc. v. Advanced Express.com , WIPO Case No. D2007-0080 (William R. Towns, March 28, 2007), the Panel required the transfer of overnitedelivery.com to UPS. Without any response from the Respondent, the outcome was never really in doubt. The Big Brown namesake owns an incontestable registration for the mark OVERNITE, the Respondent offers competing delivery services, and the Respondent used the disputed do...

As a tribute to my beloved Philadelphia Flyers, who finally put the beat-down on the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, I am going to break from the normal format and review an older decision involving the best team in all of sports. In Philadelphia Flyers, Inc. v. credoNIC.com/DOMAIN FOR SALE , WIPO Case No. D2006-0199 (Richard W. Page, April 21, 2006), the Panel required the transfer of flyersalumni.com to the top franchise in NHL hockey and owner of the FLYERS trademark. In finding flyersalumni.com confusingly similar to the Complainant's FLYERS trademark, the Panel emphasized that "the incorporation of a trademark in its entirety is sufficient to establish that a domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the complainant’s registered mark. The addition of other generic or descriptive terms in the domain name does not affect a finding that the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the complainant’s registered trademark." (Internal citations omitted.) ...