Vertical Axis can keep Detur.com domain name.
Kevin Ham’s Vertical Axis has won a UDRP over the domain name Detur.com with the help of domain name attorney Ari Goldberger of ESQwire.com.
The complaint was brought by Detur International B.V., a tourism company that started in Turkey. Among Detur’s complaints: that the domain name linked to travel sites and that it forwarded to snog.com, which it characterized as a site with “sexy photos”.
Vertical Axis claimed the domain name was merely a typo of the common English word “detour”.
The majority of the panel found that there wasn’t proof that the domain name was registered and used in bad faith.
However, panelist Ugur G. Yalçiner disagreed. One of the particularly head-scratching determinations by Yalçiner is that the word “detour” isn’t a generic or descriptive word.
Here’s what he had to say:
Respondent has stated in its response that it has registered and owns hundreds of domain names which solely incorporate typographical variations of English dictionary words, such as: aircondioners.com; airelines.com; alibama.com; … coupoons.com; creidtcards.com … etc.”. Those are really generic or descriptive words. But in the present case the situation is different. “Detur” is not generic or descriptive word.
Uh, yeah, detur is not generic or descriptive. But the word it’s a typo of — detour — is. That’s the point.
The panel ruled 2-1 in Vertical Axis’ favor.
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