Stories about Domain Disputes are interesting as it gives us a list of dos and don’ts, while establishing our businesses. We can course correct our intuitions based upon the panel proceedings. However, there are numerous cases where the Complaint is filed arbitrarily and without anything substantial.
Forum witnessed a peculiar case where an individual Complainant was up against the major cyber security firm McAfee. The contention was regarding the domain name Cyberguard.com.
The Complainant claims trademarks over CYBERGUARD, registered in December 2020. The Complainant also claimed first usage in October, 2018. The Complainant argues that the Defendant was infringing upon its trademarks by using related domain names.
The Complainant argued that the disputed domain name wasn’t used actively. In such a situation it can be claimed that the Respondent has no legitimate interest in the domain.
The domain name was initially registered in 1998. The domain name was acquired by the Respondent in 2008. The Respondent didn’t submit any response.
The panel clearly stated that by the Complainant’s own admission, their earliest use was in 2018, while the Respondent registered the domain name in 2008. 10 years before the Complainant made the first use. Hence, it can’t be established that the domain name was registered in bad faith.
The Complaint was denied. However, what was surprising is that no RDNH was given. The Complainant here should have been given a RDNH instead for knowingly pursuing an argument that was destined to be doomed.
You can read the full case here.
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