In a decision sure to drive the trademark groups crazy, a one member UDRP panel reject the trademark holders claim to the domain name Segis.com
The panel held for the domain holder, despite the complainant having bang on trademark registrations going back as far as 2007.
The panel says the Respondent is a college graduate in Republic of Korea and that the disputed domain name was created on August 23, 2013 which of course is impossible since its only July 2, 2013.
According to DomainTools.com the domain appears to have been registered on August 25, 2005 by the current domain holder, but still long after the trademarks.
I have no idea of where the date August 23, 2013 came from but it is the date cited in the decision as the date of registration.
Despite the fact that the domain has never been used by the domain holder, the panel found no bad faith and in addition found that the domain holder had legitimate rights to the domain.
Here are the relevant Facts and findings by the WIPO panel:
The Complainant is an Italian company for the contract furniture industry and owns a large number of registered trademarks that include the term “Segis” alone going back until 1997 and that incorporate the term “Segis” with other elements. The Complainant also owns the following trademark and domain name registrations:
Mark: Country: Reg. No.: Reg. Date: Int’l Class:
SEGIS Italy 801251 March 21, 1997 20
SEGIS International 861669 July 1, 2005 20
SEGIS DELIGHT MULTIPLA China G929310 May 15, 2007 20
SEGIS DELIGHT MULTIPLA United States of America 3,395,175 March 11, 2008 20
SEGIS DELIGHT MULTIPLA European Community 005573365 August 29, 2008 20
The Complainant also owns many Domain Names including:
segis-usa.com
segis-eu
segis.it
segis.fr
segis.nl
Segis.cn
Segis.vn
“The Respondent claims that the disputed domain name was coined by himself and his friends who were planning to operate a website. Specifically, the Respondent claims that the disputed domain name is an acronym for “Se Eun Geographic Information System.”
According to the Respondent, the name “Se Eun” is his girlfriend’s first name.
“The Respondent claims that the plan he and his friends had to use the disputed domain name to resolve to a website in connection with their prospective business was delayed for several years due to an extended illness suffered by the Respondent.”
“Recently, however, the Respondent has recommenced plans to start a business using the disputed domain name.”
“The Respondent did not make any direct claim of a right or legitimate interest in the disputed domain name,.…