Rick Schwartz has lost a UDRP he filed against the owner of DomainKing.biz.
Schwartz, who is known as the “Domain King” in domainer circles, filed the UDRP against a registrar operating as DomainKing in India, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines and Kenya.
Hannu Internet Corp claims to have 11,000 clients in these countries.
Panelist Matthew Harris determined that Schwartz did not prove the domain was registered and used in bad faith. He wrote:
"…there is insufficient evidence before the Panel for it to conclude that the Respondent was at that time aware that either Mr. Schwartz or the Complainant were using that term in a trade mark sense.
…Further, even if the Complainant was able to demonstrate that the Respondent most likely knew that the term “Domain King” was being used in a trade mark sense, that would not be the end of the matter. The question would still remain whether the Domain Name was registered to take some unfair advantage of the Complainant’s use of this term.
In this case the Panel has reached the conclusion that the Complainant has failed to demonstrate that it was with such potential advantage in mind that the Domain Name was registered. The Panel accepts that the term “Domain King”, although not necessarily a “natural” combination of words, is not itself an entirely unnatural name for the Respondent to have chosen for a domain registration and webhosting business and the Panel accepts that it at least plausible that this name was chosen because of its potential descriptive associations with that business, rather than the name’s possible association with Mr. Schwatz or the Complainant."
Source
What do you think about the decision and why??
I personally think it was right. The terms 'Domain' and 'King' are both generic.
Schwartz, who is known as the “Domain King” in domainer circles, filed the UDRP against a registrar operating as DomainKing in India, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines and Kenya.
Hannu Internet Corp claims to have 11,000 clients in these countries.
Panelist Matthew Harris determined that Schwartz did not prove the domain was registered and used in bad faith. He wrote:
"…there is insufficient evidence before the Panel for it to conclude that the Respondent was at that time aware that either Mr. Schwartz or the Complainant were using that term in a trade mark sense.
…Further, even if the Complainant was able to demonstrate that the Respondent most likely knew that the term “Domain King” was being used in a trade mark sense, that would not be the end of the matter. The question would still remain whether the Domain Name was registered to take some unfair advantage of the Complainant’s use of this term.
In this case the Panel has reached the conclusion that the Complainant has failed to demonstrate that it was with such potential advantage in mind that the Domain Name was registered. The Panel accepts that the term “Domain King”, although not necessarily a “natural” combination of words, is not itself an entirely unnatural name for the Respondent to have chosen for a domain registration and webhosting business and the Panel accepts that it at least plausible that this name was chosen because of its potential descriptive associations with that business, rather than the name’s possible association with Mr. Schwatz or the Complainant."
Source
What do you think about the decision and why??
I personally think it was right. The terms 'Domain' and 'King' are both generic.
