Making a place for yourself on the internet is not easy. You have to keep your eyes and ears open all the time. A miss of even a few days could have a long term impact on your venture, as in our current case study.
WIPO was presented before a case of dispute related to the domain name bybt .com. The Complainant is a crypto exchange operator. Since 2018 the Complainant has been operating the domain name bybit.com. The Complainant also owns an app known by Bybit. The Complainant filed for trademark over ‘BYBIT’ in June 2021 which was approved in November 2021. At the time approval was granted this case was going on in the WIPO.
The Respondent operates the domain name for providing cryptocurrency features and as an information platform. The domain name redirects to CoinGlass.com. The Respondent’s platform also showed some advertisements which according to the Complainant were displayed with their consent.
The panel found out that the Respondent was using the domain name for a legitimate purpose that attracted millions of visitors. Thus a case of bad faith couldn’t be proved. The panel also found out several rounds of conversation between the two parties and found that the Complainant themselves asked the Respondent to place these advertisements. The panel denied the Complaint.
The panel however found two discrepancies in the Complaint. First, the absence of trademark rights at the time appeal which is a must in such cases. Second, the false claim of not giving consent about advertisements.
The panel awarded a RDNH to the Complainant.
You can read the full case here.
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