Porsche wins dispute over IDN.
Porsche has won a UDRP for the domain name порше.com, which is xn--e1arcf4b.com in punycode.
The company claims that the internationalized domain name translates as “Porsche”.
This case created some challenges for the panel. There have been numerous UDRP cases involving IDNs, but each panel needs to grapple with an arbitration system created before the use of IDNs. Facing this issue, the panel wrote:
In this case, the disputed domain name is not visually similar or identical to the Complainant’s mark. The Complainant claims that the disputed domain name is phonetically similar to its mark. However, in the Panel’s view, it does not follow from the Complainant’s evidence that the disputed domain name transcribes the sound of its mark in Cyrillic. Is it, for example, phonetically similar in Russian to the way its mark would sound in German or English? The Complainant does not say. Regardless, the Complainant provided evidence that the disputed domain name is a transliteration of its PORSCHE mark. The Complainant’s mark is very well-known, and this is recognized in a series of prior decisions under the Policy in the Complainant’s favor… The number of prior cases under the Policy involving the Complainant’s mark is itself an indication that the Complainant is an attractive target for cybersquatters.
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