Remember affiliate network Pepperjam? An Australian company wants one of its domain names.
An Australian lender that uses the brand name “Pepper Money” has failed to get the domain name PepperMoney.com from an old division of eBay.
Pepper Group Limited filed a cybersquatting claim against 1075 First Global Associates, LLC.
Although you’ve probably never heard of 1075 First Global Associates, LLC, this is the new owner of the once-popular affiliate network PepperJam.
eBay bought Pepperjam in 2012 and rebranded it as eBay Affiliate Network. eBay later spun it out and no longer has an interest in it. That’s where the respondent steps in: it bought the assets and is now relaunching under the Pepperjam name.
Pepper Group Limited owns Pepper.com.au and PepperMoney.com.au. It recently rebranded as Pepper Money, and admits in the UDRP that this was a recent rebrand. However, PepperMoney.com was registered 2011. This means it couldn’t have been registered in bad faith.
That’s why the complainant first tried to buy PepperMoney.com. When it failed, it resorted to a UDRP.
A three person World Intellectual Property Organization panel, confirmed that the complainant didn’t prove the domain was registered in bad faith.
Anonymous says
Domain Name: pepper.money
Creation Date: 2016-05-05T13:46:50Z
Nic says
Small clarification: “PEPPER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD” is the *licence holder* (not owner) of the domain name Pepper.com.au; there is a subtle but significant difference in the status of a registrant in .au.
Shame on you, Peppers, for the unethical, unscrupulous, Pepper-picking pickle, you are now in, for all to see!
Francoise says
When attempt to buy domain failed they filed a UDRP. Isn’t that what’s known as Plan B?
Also, if they were represented by lawyers, as the domain name was registered before Pepper Group rebranded, the lawyers would have known the domain name couldn’t have been registered in bad faith. So why no RDNH?
Nick says
This should have been RDNH for sure
Mulholland says
We should just hope that the new ICANN working group looking at the UDRP is reading these UDRP stories on DomainNameWire and maybe asking the UDRP panelists as to why they didn’t judge such cases as RDNH.