Poorly formed case was dead on arrival.
Indiana company International Lighting Corporation has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking over the domain name Interlight.com.
The company uses the domain Interlight.biz, and wanted to upgrade to the .com.
However, its case was extremely poorly formed and it was dead on arrival:
- The owner of Interlight.com has owned it since 1997, well before the complainant received registered rights in the name. It claimed use of the mark dating to 1993 but provided no proof.
- It erroneously said that the current owner acquired the domain name in 2008, but that was just a hosting change. A quick look at whois history disproves an ownership transfer.
- International Lighting only selectively disclosed communications with the owner, leaving out multiple attempts to buy the domain name.
- The panelist also pointed out multiple weaknesses in the case, as if it was merely phoned in.
International Lighting was represented by Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, PLC. Based on the panelist’s written decision, it did a very poor job representing a case that should have never been filed in the first place.
Maybe Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, PLC. should also be listed in the HallofShame.com under a section named “idiot attorneys you should avoid at all costs”?
Anther year passes and still no monetary penalty to deter parasites from trying to eat someone else’s lunch. Sad times.
Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone, the complainant’s legal representatives, have all these lawyers http://www.millercanfield.com/services-42.html specializing in the field of Intellectual Property.
Their website states that “We understand that a successful outcome in high stakes IP litigation is one that achieves our clients’ objectives and goals.”
and ”Miller Canfield’s IP trial attorneys have successfully prosecuted and defended hundreds of intellectual property disputes across the country.“ Clearly this case isn’t one of them.
The law firm appears to suffer from Graveyard Letterhead Syndrome as there do not seem to be any lawyers actually named Miller, Canfield, Paddock or Stone at Miller, Canfield, Paddock & Stone.
Miller Canfield’s spécialité de la maison may well be this kind of outdated, boorish attitude towards the law:
http://newyorkcourtcorruption.blogspot.com/2013/07/ethics-complaint-filed-against-attorney.html
http://miafscme.org/2012/11/26/u-s-attorney-ethics-boards-asked-to-investigate-contracting-improprieties-before-detroit-city-council-today/
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/ex-partner_claims_culture_of_fear_and_intimidation_at_miller_canfield/
But mealy-mouthing here isn’t going to trigger any soul-searches. They do a brisk trade enabling offshore manufacturing for clients…and they’re headquartered in Detroit! No raised pinkies in that break room.