A UDRP rejected the complaint of the Irish Road Safety Authority Act, which :has sole authority and competence in Ireland for oversight of the driving licensing system, including management of the driving test, development of driver licensing policy and drafting licensing legislation” on the domain name drivinglicence.ie.
Here are the relevant facts and findings by the one member panel:
The disputed domain name was registered by the Registrant on September 23, 2011.
On March 29, 2012, the Complainant telephoned the Registrant asking if it would transfer the disputed domain name to it.
The Registrant stated that the disputed domain name would be used for a project that was 90% complete, that it was not “looking to sell” but that “everything has a price”.
The Registrant said that a sale would disrupt its plans and that it would not be interested unless there was “a serious bid” of EUR 10,000.
The Complainant made reference to a potential claim via the IEDR but asked for an email to be sent giving the Registrant’s best price and the Complainant would then make a decision as to how to proceed.
At some point thereafter a website appeared at the disputed domain name stating “Coming Soon …. We’re preparing a surprise (scheduled to launch on April-May 2012)” together with a navigation bar with buttons “LEARN TO DRIVE”, “THEORY TEST” and “SIGN UP”.
The parties exchanged emails on March 29, 2012, summarised as follows:
The Complainant stated that it required the disputed domain name as part of its core business and asked how to go about transferring it to the Complainant.
The Registrant said that it could not transfer the disputed domain name because it had invested approximately EUR 12,000 to EUR 15,000 in developing it and that the site would be launched in 1-2 months. The Registrant invited the Complainant to visit the website at the disputed domain name.
The Complainant asked if the work would dovetail with that of the Complainant and enquired what kind of service the site would provide.
The Registrant stated that “our website will be a complete commercial online learning solution for clients looking to prepare better for their theory test and also for the driving test. We will also provide a listing of all driving instructors with multiple facilities.” The Registrant asked for details about the Complainant’s proposed product / service, stating that it did not want to create any conflict.…
