Car company was upset about escort’s website that referred to Porsche’s SUV.
The car company Porsche filed a cybersquatting complaint against an escort service’s website but ended up flaccid.
Porsche was upset that an escort service used the domain name CayenneSex(.)com. Porche makes an SUV called the Cayenne. And it was clear that the sex service’s owner thought about the car company when creating the site. An archive of the site (translated into English) notes “Hot as the Porsche & Sharp like the Chili Pepper!!!”
But World Intellectual Property Organization panelist John Swinson determined that Porsche didn’t show that the escort service lacked rights or legitimate interests in the domain. He said the reference to Porsche was fairly nominal and perhaps the chili pepper was more important.
Swinson had some fun with this case, doing some of his own research into peppers and sex:
The Panel notes that, while the term “cayenne” is indeed a trade mark owned by the Complainant, perhaps even a well-known or famous one, it is also a type of chilli pepper which is known for being particularly hot or spicy. (It is even apparently believed by some that the aphrodisiac power of hot chilli peppers can be somewhat amazing.)
Even though it lost the case, Porsche might have succeeded in its goal. The domain name no longer resolves to a website.
