UDRP decisions on domain names by arbitrators such as WIPO and Forum are not ultimate. The decisions could be further contested on other legal forums such as Courts. In some cases, where the complexity of the case is huge, the panel itself recommends consulting other forums.
The domain name CitadelAir.com was under contention in WIPO. The Complainant was Citadel LLC and related entity CE TM Holdings LLC. The Complainant registered the CITADEL mark at USPTO in 2007. The Complainant claims that the Respondent’s domain name directs users to a private airline business and uses the Complainant’s trademark CITADEL.
The Respondent argued that he had registered the domain name to provide critical parody of the Complainant through the perspective of a private airline company. The Respondent also added the details of a Twitter account.
The Panel however didn’t find the parody of the Respondent legitimate and transferred the domain name. However, the Respondent didn’t lose hope and applied for a relief at the District of Arizona.
The transfer decision of the domain name by the panel is on hold. The domain name still belongs to the Respondent as of now.
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