UDRP Should I expect an UDRP?

[boker]

Okay, so a few months ago I have noticed that some single word co.uk names are selling well and I started looking for some, still available to reg which could work for a tech company. I have found some and registered them, they are not main dictionary words, but still words, like 'oxpecker' , 'dugong' and others. Fast forward, a few days ago I have received an offer through my efty landing page, from a gmail account, with a low offer. I have replied that I'm looking for more and that's it. I have tracked the gmail account and it appears to be owned by a young lawyer working for some rebranding company from California, who are working with big consumer product companies. The word itself it's used by a big company in US for one of they products, but they have never used it for european market. There are other european cctld's with that word for sale, like .eu , de or .nl After a few hours after I have responded to the email, I have noticed that somebody coming from the domain l.com was checking my efty website for 8 minutes or so, the ip being from Russia. I have checked the whois of 'l.com' and it seems that is Icann reserved....but why the IP is from Russia? Also, it's strange that they tried to hide that they are lawyers and used a gmail account. After all this, I'm thinking I should expect a UDRP complaint, what are your thoughts? I should act in one way or other?

 

[Mifuru]

if you register broker.com at '04 and trade mark registered at '03.
trademark owner may request the procedure.

https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/help/dndr/udrp-en

 

[boker]

They can fill a complaint even if they don't have a trademark registered or even if the trademark was registered after I have bought the name. They are using this name for their product for over 50 years in US, but never in Europe, so now, all of the sudden they are interested in certain european countries. The question is why they were hiding using a gamail account if they just want to fill a UDRP and how come after just a few hours of my response somebody coming from an Icann reserved domain was on my website. I'm thinking that they have asked somebody from Icann if they have a strong case and that they will not start the UDRP until they will not be sure about it.

 

[Mifuru]

They can fill a complaint even if they don't have a trademark registered or even if the trademark was registered after I have bought the name. They are using this name for their product for over 50 years in US, but never in Europe, so now, all of the sudden they are interested in certain european countries. The question is why they were hiding using a gamail account if they just want to fill a UDRP and how come after just a few hours of my response somebody coming from an Icann reserved domain was on my website. I'm thinking that they have asked somebody from Icann if they have a strong case and that they will not start the UDRP until they will not be sure about it.

lawyers in corporate - not use @gmail.com

 

[1Darko]

Make sure u don't have links on the page to this company and their products or services.

Sometimes companies hire lawyers to buy domains not only for UDRP.

Be positive and good luck!

 

[boker]

Make sure u don't have links on the page to this company and their products or services.

Sometimes companies hire lawyers to buy domains not only for UDRP.

Be positive and good luck!

It's just an efty landing page so it should be fine. I was just checking the name and they wanted to rebrand in UK using the same name around 20 years ago, but they have give up, so it's possible that they have some rebranding wishes again.

 

[boker]

Also, being a co.uk domain, I'm not sure that the UDRP works exactly the same as for a com or other gtld.

 

[1Darko]

Also, being a co.uk domain, I'm not sure that the UDRP works exactly the same as for a com or other gtld.

Should be the same.

 

[Kuffy]

Make sure u don't have links on the page to this company and their products or services.

I usually do the opposite. I write a disclaimer stating that I'm not associated with the company, and put a link on the page to redirect surfers if they are looking for the company site. I think that this draws attention to the site if the company looks at the stats, and could help you if they do bring a case against you. But, of course, it all depends on the name.

Legal note - I am not a lawyer.

 

[boker]

Should be the same.

I have just checked and it seems that Nominet( internet naming authority in Uk) it the one who decides when a complaint was fillet regarding a co.uk-http://www.adlexsolicitors.co.uk/domain-dispute/nominet-drs-uk-domain-dispute.htm and they have a slightly different way to handle this. They will try to conduct a phone mediation before accepting a complaint and also you can't be awarded damages or costs

 

[premkumar]

Are you guys sure UDRP carried out by Icann in these case. I think CCTLD are country specific and each country have their own UDRP kind of system. I know in India its INDRP that deals with .in not UDRP and they generally located in host country in these case UK.

 

[boker]

Are you guys sure UDRP carried out by Icann in these case. I think CCTLD are country specific and each country have their own UDRP kind of system. I know in India its INDRP that deals with .in not UDRP and they generally located in host country in these case UK.

I think that some countries have some kind of contract with Icann to deal will UDRP's regarding their cctld, (around 50 cctld's) but the rest of them deal themselfs with UDRP's, in this case-Nominet

 

[FanCube]

When it comes to .uk names, UK law applies. As far as I understand, disputes are handled by Nominet and can be escalated to a UK court.

From the information you have provided nothing points towards a domain dispute at the moment. If this is indeed a lawyer contacting you using a Gmail address, then it's probably an attempt to buy the domain under the radar as cheap as possible (or the lawyer might also be a hobby domainer .) It's not uncommon that companies make anonymous inquiries to avoid high costs and long negotiations. Actually, it can also be considered positive that you are not getting a "cease and desist" type of letter, but a sales inquiry.

Domain disputes can be time-consuming and costly, so it's often in the best interest of both parties to find common ground.

I doubt the Russian IP address has anything to do with the sales inquiry or ICANN. Could be another person interested in the domain listing or simply a bot sniffing around. The use of "l.com" is probably spoofed, some kind of default nonexisting hostname, or an error in the database used for the rDNS lookup.

 

[boker]

When it comes to .uk names, UK law applies. As far as I understand, disputes are handled by Nominet and can be escalated to a UK court.

From the information you have provided nothing points towards a domain dispute at the moment. If this is indeed a lawyer contacting you using a Gmail address, then it's probably an attempt to buy the domain under the radar as cheap as possible (or the lawyer might also be a hobby domainer .) It's not uncommon that companies make anonymous inquiries to avoid high costs and long negotiations. Actually, it can also be considered positive that you are not getting a "cease and desist" type of letter, but a sales inquiry.

Domain disputes can be time-consuming and costly, so it's often in the best interest of both parties to find common ground.

I doubt the Russian IP address has anything to do with the sales inquiry or ICANN. Could be another person interested in the domain listing or simply a bot sniffing around. The use of "l.com" is probably spoofed, some kind of default nonexisting hostname, or an error in the database used for the rDNS lookup.

The lawyer has the position of general counsel in the company(around 200 employees) which deals with rebranding for consumer products, mostly for US and south-east Asia markets. I'm sure that there is a connection between them dealing with consumer products and the existing brand of consumer product in the US, but I'm not sure they represent the brand owner or they just want to acquire the name for themself( they are also distributing, design and rebranding consumer products). I don't know to much about bots and nonexisting hostname, but was just strange that just a few hours later somebody coming from an Icann reserved domain was checking the same domain, maybe was just a coincidence.

 

[toughdomains]

having something other than a for sale page does help

"Panel inferred bad faith registration from bad faith use, even where the Respondent's only use was an offer to sell the disputed domain name on a public Internet auction site. The Panel reasoned that because the Respondent did nothing but offer the domain name for sale, the registration was for that sole purpose. The Panel wrote: "As there is no evidence on the record that Respondent has undertaken any act regarding the disputed domain name other than to offer it for sale, the Panel infers that the offering for sale was Respondent�s purpose for the registration. If the Respondent�s offer for sale is determined to be in bad faith, then the registration will also be deemed to be in bad faith."

 

[jberryhill]

The UDRP does not apply to .co.uk names.

Disputes concerning .co.uk names are handled under the Nominet DRS (dispute resolution system). It has some similarities to the UDRP, and a number of significant differences.

As one poster mentioned above, ccTLD managers can implement their own dispute resolution system, or they can opt to use the UDRP.

India (.in), Canada (.ca), the UK (.de) and many other country-code TLDs have their own dispute resolution mechanisms.

 

[boker]

The UDRP does not apply to .co.uk names.

Disputes concerning .co.uk names are handled under the Nominet DRS (dispute resolution system). It has some similarities to the UDRP, and a number of significant differences.

As one poster mentioned above, ccTLD managers can implement their own dispute resolution system, or they can opt to use the UDRP.

India (.in), Canada (.ca), the UK (.de) and many other country-code TLDs have their own dispute resolution mechanisms.

You have any idea about the differences, I mean in this case the name it's on a efty landing page?

 

[FanCube]

You can lookup recent decisions here: https://secure.nominet.org.uk/drs/search-disputes.html

 

[jberryhill]

You have any idea about the differences

Well, yes. I've defended domain registrants in quite a few of them. A comprehensive discussion of the various procedural and substantive differences could go on for pages, but some of the highlights are...

- The complaint is filed without a fee and notified to the respondent. The respondent may reply to the complaint at that time. Nominet then starts a "mediation period" in which they attempt to contact the parties in order to work out a negotiated resolution.

- If no agreement is reached during the mediation period, the complainant can then pay a fee in order to advance to a decision.

- the "bad faith" element is "registered OR used in bad faith" under the DRS instead of "registered AND used in bad faith" under the UDRP. This distinction captures various species of trademark infringement that would not necessarily fall under the UDRP

- the DRS process includes an appeal mechanism in which the non-prevailing party may pay an additional fee for review by a subset of more experienced panelists

Significantly, because a response can be filed prior to the complainant paying the fee, I've had several disputes end at that point. Since many domain disputes are filed on a "will the other guy show up" basis, then the complainant in a DRS has the choice between throwing money down the drain on a complaint that is obviously faulty, walking away, or making a deal.

But, yeah, I could go on all day about the differences. There are plenty more.