How to return the domain "with interest"
Three months ago, we talked about a case involving the MyArt.com domain , which the My-Art Company received through a WIPO complaint under the UDRP procedure.
As already noted, the plaintiff had no reason to claim ownership of the domain name: it is registered 14 years earlier than the My-Art Company trademark, and also consists of commonly used vocabulary words. Also, the domain was inactive, therefore, there are no facts of illegal use of another brand. The only reason the claimant was able to obtain the domain was that the previous owner ignored the claimant’s complaint.
It is not recommended to ignore complaints, as in this case WIPO can transfer your domain to another person even in very controversial cases. However, this time the events took an unexpected turn.
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After losing a domain dispute, law firm Lewis & Lin, representing the former owner, filed a lawsuit in which she demanded that the domain name be returned to him and compensate for the damage to commercial activities and reputation that the domain owner suffered because of the actions of My-Art Company.
Based on the fact that My-Art Company does not have rights to the MyArt.com domain for the reasons mentioned at the beginning of the article, the company was found guilty of attempting to illegally seize a domain name. The court satisfied the plaintiff’s demands and decided to return the domain MyArt.com to the former owner, and the My-Art Company ordered him to pay compensation, as well as to pay all court costs.
The total amount of compensation paid to the owner amounted to $ 7,500, excluding his expenses for legal services. This is not very much, but the very fact of the return with a percentage of a domain name lost due to carelessness is interesting.
From this we can also conclude that the decision of the WIPO Commission on Domain Disputes under the UDRP procedure has low legal force and can be easily overturned by a court decision. In other words, if the WIPO commission makes a clearly wrong decision from a legal point of view, the victim can not only regain the domain in court, but also demand additional compensation.
As already noted, the plaintiff had no reason to claim ownership of the domain name: it is registered 14 years earlier than the My-Art Company trademark, and also consists of commonly used vocabulary words. Also, the domain was inactive, therefore, there are no facts of illegal use of another brand. The only reason the claimant was able to obtain the domain was that the previous owner ignored the claimant’s complaint.
It is not recommended to ignore complaints, as in this case WIPO can transfer your domain to another person even in very controversial cases. However, this time the events took an unexpected turn.
')
After losing a domain dispute, law firm Lewis & Lin, representing the former owner, filed a lawsuit in which she demanded that the domain name be returned to him and compensate for the damage to commercial activities and reputation that the domain owner suffered because of the actions of My-Art Company.
Based on the fact that My-Art Company does not have rights to the MyArt.com domain for the reasons mentioned at the beginning of the article, the company was found guilty of attempting to illegally seize a domain name. The court satisfied the plaintiff’s demands and decided to return the domain MyArt.com to the former owner, and the My-Art Company ordered him to pay compensation, as well as to pay all court costs.
The total amount of compensation paid to the owner amounted to $ 7,500, excluding his expenses for legal services. This is not very much, but the very fact of the return with a percentage of a domain name lost due to carelessness is interesting.
From this we can also conclude that the decision of the WIPO Commission on Domain Disputes under the UDRP procedure has low legal force and can be easily overturned by a court decision. In other words, if the WIPO commission makes a clearly wrong decision from a legal point of view, the victim can not only regain the domain in court, but also demand additional compensation.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/230673/
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