Travel company gets a nice domain name upgrade through UDRP in a strange case.
A World Intellectual Property Organization panel has determined that the domain name Octopus.com should be transferred to Octopustravel Group Limited. The company’s current web site is OctopusTravel.com.
Before you scream about this injustice you should read the facts. In fact, back in March I wrote about this case with the headline “1986 Domain Name Octopus.com Could Be Lost in UDRP“.
All of the content on Octopus.com has to do with the sea creature. But all of the ads are for travel.
Yes, some of them are Adsense and it may not have been the domain owner’s intention for them to be related to travel. But the AdBrite ad is questionable.
And it turns out the owner of the domain has a connection to Octopus Travel. She used to work there.
She also used a fake name as the owner of the domain name. She explains that she just didn’t want her friends to know she was about to get rich by selling a great domain name, so she used a fake name.
Hmm.
I find it hard to believe it was only her love of octopi that led her to register this domain name.
Amr says
I wanted to buy this name before 🙁
Andrew Allemann says
I like how the site has a section on “travel methods” of octopi.
SL says
Probably safe to assume she paid less than $49k asking price on Flippa in February.
Unless she knew what was coming and tried to dump it before the complaint was entered on March 3rd. Any public info on what she paid in 2006?
A little common sense would have gone a long way in this situation.
Harry says
Facts??
So the site is about octopus, the sea creature. But the ads are about travel? So that merits a UDRP on a $100K domain??
WTF Andrew. Grow a pair, this is absolute crap decision by UDRP once again.
These decisions DEVALUE the industry, and not to mention the leave the door open for moor trolls who think they can score a huge domain for NOTHING.
Olex says
It’s very strange bad decision based on the fact that generic good old name was used for advertising.
I don’t believe that sea travel advertising is forbidden on such kind of domain.
Thanks to such result as example there is an open opportunity for any TM holder to take wished developed domain for cents. Just because there is appropriate TM.
Harry Flowers says
I’d have to agree with Andrew on this one.
The AdBrite ad is a good indicator that she knew since that kind of ad is more actively managed by the domain owner.
If it were just Adsense and she had never worked there, there might be a some case for just plain negligence, but there’s too much going against her here.
Dave Zan says
@Harry
Then why the ads (and for a long time from what I gathered) for travel?
Besides, it was a combination of factors, not just the ads, that did the registrant in.
ben says
She needs to take this to the courts. Octopus is a generic term.