Arbitration panel rules that NC State shouldn’t get Wolfpack.com domain name.
North Carolina State University, whose athletic teams are called the Wolfpack, has lost a domain name arbitration case for the domain Wolfpack.com.
The university filed the case against a company that registered the domain name in 1997. The university argued that the domain name was registered for the purpose of selling it, and used an unsolicited 2007 letter from the domain owner offering to sell the domain name as evidence.
The domain owner said he registered the domain name for a snowshoe project, and provided as evidence that he registered other Wolfpack product domains around the same time. He also argued that wolfpack is a generic term. When he eventually tried to sell it he reached out to multiple parties. Finally, he said the delay in the university bringing this case should be used against it.
The University responded to that last point by saying it sent its first demand letter to the respondent in 2002. This is, in some ways, damning to the university since it suggests it did not really feel like it had enough rights, otherwise it would have followed through in going after the domain.
A three person National Arbitration Forum panel ruled that it’s not clear the domain owner was specifically targeting the university in its registration, that there are many other companies with trademarks for “wolfpack,” and that at the end of the day the domain is a generic term with many plausible uses and reasons for registration.
The respondent was represented by Ari Goldberger of Esqwire.com.
WIPO and NAF really need to establish a concept of adverse possession for cases such as this. If a domain is owned open and notoriously (ie, correct WHOIS information) for 7+ years, the domain owner should not be subjected to crap like this. Or, in the alternative, give RDNH some teeth including putative damages and legal fees so companies will think twice before filing frivolous bullying actions. Presently, it is a $1500 lottery ticket. Well worth it and often far less than the cost of an outright purchase.
We have been saying this since day 1. It is a fraud, a scam, perpetrated by the lawyers who sit behind the panel. They get paid to review a case, it is essentially a bribe. The entire WIPO process is nothing but a scam carried out by a kangaroo court.
The only reason it excists is the $1500 fee they collect to “review” these cases. As long as they don’t —- up too massively, they can keep their scheme going for as long as possible.
Finally some great article in domaining blogs. All I read on the other blogs is just new gTLD and nothing else. Bloggers are free to write about anything, but I am just wondering, why nobody wrote anything about .TEL, .MUSEUM, .POST, .INT, and other existing gTLDs in past, but now everyone is just about new gTLD. Sorry to say that, but new gTLD is for bew start-ups, branding, not for domain investors. And I would prefer if other bloggers start to write about things that they like, they do, they are passionate about, not stuff that is just happening, but not a part of their business model and/or they orientation. Anyway, this article is great and thanks for sharing!