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Mojoco
26-05-12, 03:06 PM
What a lousy UDRP decision

http://www.thedomains.com/2012/05/24/legalsupply-com-lost-to-elegalsupply-com-the-transfer-of-a-domain-is-equivalent-to-a-new-registration/comment-page-2/#comment-108860

accelerator
26-05-12, 06:56 PM
It's rather concerning that this kind of decision can happen. To have registered a trademark using a variant of a generic phrase, and use this trademark to obtain the generic phrase domain, seems rather unfair to me. It all comes down to the question who should have intellectual property rights to a generic phrase. The answer is no-one. Maybe I should become a US domain lawyer.

Rgds

crabfoot
29-05-12, 12:44 PM
It is a combination of domaining practices and US trademark laws that have led to this situation.

If LegalSupply had been in use, rather than just a domain "on the shelf", the decision could have been very different.
Using an identity for trading purposes in the US for a reasonable period (usually more than 18 months) can establish trademark rights, even if the TM is not registered. The world at large sees domainers as "domain squatters", and that includes ICANN.

A couple of years ago, there was a big amendment to the ICANN rules in favour of TM holders, which was forced through by big business interests, despite the protests of domainers all over the planet. Methinks we have just seen the first serious consequence of that rule change.

It has obviously cost eLegalSupply quite a few shillings in legal expenses to get hold of the domain by a route which most members consider to be abominable, but one feels sure that they would have simply bought it and got on with life, if the asking price had been lower. Looks like they made a business decision to go by this slower but cheaper route.

The obvious lesson to be learned is that we have to use our domains - and the more valuable the domain is, the more important it is to be sure that the domain can be seen to be in use. "Use it or lose it" is now in force and has been enforced.