Stolen domain name recovered through UDRP

Education group that manages Thompson Island gets its domain name back.

Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center has recovered the domain name ThompsonIsland.org through a UDRP case.

The group alleges that the domain name was stolen from its Network Solutions account.

According to documents provided to the UDRP panel, it appears that an unauthorized person changed the password on the complainant’s registrar account as well as the challenge questions used for password reset. It then transferred the disputed domain name to an account maintained in the respondent’s name.

In coming to its decision to transfer the domain, the panelist needed to be persuaded that the domain name was confusingly similar to a mark in which the youth education group has rights. It’s generally known at Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, not Thompson Island. Since Thompson Island is a geographic place in and of itself, this gave panelist Richard G. Lyon pause.

He decided:

First and most importantly, the audience likely to be misled should Respondent make a different use of the disputed domain name has for almost a decade identified “Thompson Island” with Complainant; that is the means Internet users seeking information about Complainant have accessed it on their computers. Second, Thompson Island may be said to be the dominant feature of Complainant’s full name. Its use without the other four words may – and on Complainant’s evidence is found to be – acceptable ellipsis.

I don’t agree with how he came to the determination that it was confusingly similar. That said, a bit of research shows that the 170 acre Thompson Island is managed by the complainant, which may have pushed this element in the complainant’s favor.