Panel rules Schwartz didn’t prove the domain was registered in bad faith.
Rick Schwartz has lost a UDRP he filed against the owner of DomainKing.biz.
Schwartz, who is known as the “Domain King” in domainer circles, filed the UDRP against a registrar operating as DomainKing in India, Nigeria, South Africa, Philippines and Kenya.
Hannu Internet Corp claims to have 11,000 clients in these countries.
Panelist Matthew Harris determined that Schwartz did not prove the domain was registered and used in bad faith. He wrote:
…there is insufficient evidence before the Panel for it to conclude that the Respondent was at that time aware that either Mr. Schwartz or the Complainant were using that term in a trade mark sense.
…Further, even if the Complainant was able to demonstrate that the Respondent most likely knew that the term “Domain King” was being used in a trade mark sense, that would not be the end of the matter. The question would still remain whether the Domain Name was registered to take some unfair advantage of the Complainant’s use of this term.
In this case the Panel has reached the conclusion that the Complainant has failed to demonstrate that it was with such potential advantage in mind that the Domain Name was registered. The Panel accepts that the term “Domain King”, although not necessarily a “natural” combination of words, is not itself an entirely unnatural name for the Respondent to have chosen for a domain registration and webhosting business and the Panel accepts that it at least plausible that this name was chosen because of its potential descriptive associations with that business, rather than the name’s possible association with Mr. Schwatz or the Complainant.
Schwartz was represented by his former business partner Howard Neu.
So in summary even if he proved they knew he existed or used that term it still might not have mattered since the use was still good (selling domain registration), not good for the King. I suspect you would have to be an individual trading in names or offering a blog/consulting before the term Domain King could be challenged.
It’s not clear how good of an argument he put forth for bad faith. The panelist wrote:
“The Complainant also claims that the Domain Name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. It does not expressly explain the basis of that contention but refers to a previous UDRP decision (i.e., Singapore Pools (Private) Limited v. WhoisGuard Inc. / Chicho Vancho, WIPO Case No. D2016-0290) in which the panel held that it was (i) “highly improbable that the Respondents selected the Disputed Domain Name independently and without knowledge of the Complainant or its business”; and (ii) the respondents in that case were using the disputed domain name’s association with the complainant in order to attract users to their website. So it would appear that the Complainant is making the same allegation against the Respondent in this case.”
btw DomainKing.net still $1500 and he hasn’t bought it, odd really.
He likes selling not buying domains.
I know what you mean but does one not have to buy in order to sell lol ;-)~
Seems like a merit-less case to be honest.
i told you he will lose !!!
nobody in this world has the right to be a ,,king,,
nobody
Rick – this is for you
what a beautiful day :-)))
Regardless of how one feels about a person/persona wishing ill will or taking joy in one’s defeat in a case like this is tasteless, sorry.
Someone won the case also, works both ways mr bannana
I see the point you are trying to make (someone is happy he lost) while true they did not ask for the opportunity either. Besides it is not the same joy, taking joy in a defence is not the same as in someone’s failures.
You look on the look wayback machine and at the very bottom they used virtually the same logo as Ricks. Woops:) I,,m sure the did not know he was the domain king right. LOL.
He is the “Domain king”, he lost the case but that is just the battle. If he decided to goto war with the other party they would probably lose. It’s like someone calling themselves “KingJames” in the basketball world and saying oh I did not know basketball was a sport.
I always support people who have given countless hours of research and information. Why hate someone for being successful, that is just being jealous.
DonnyM
you don,t listen :
if you accept a KING
this make,s you an UNDERLING
i don,t accept any kind of KINGS !!!
Rick never should file a UDPR
if you get success you should share
and not claim
so please listen before you post
Why didn’t Mr. Schwartz “defensively register” the name with .BIZ in 2001, or shortly thereafter?
After all, DomainKing[dot]COM’s been around since 1997.
Unlike CentralNic’s “pseudo” cc.COMs and uk[dot]COM which DID’NT make the NEW gTLD cut in 2001, .BIZ has been around for a long, long time.
I’m curious to see what Mr. Schwartz does next.
Rick may have inadvertently done a favor for domainers as there is helpful language in the decision:
“Further, even if the Complainant was able to demonstrate that the Respondent most likely knew that the term “Domain King” was being used in a trade mark sense, that would not be the end of the matter. The question would still remain whether the Domain Name was registered to take some unfair advantage of the Complainant’s use of this term.”
Panelist Matthew Harris is saying that even if you are aware that a term is being used as a trademark it may still be okay to register it as long as you are not taking unfair advantage of the trademark holder. This is exactly what domain owners have been arguing since the beginning of the UDRP.
This is in contrast to a minority of panelists who find bad faith simply in registering a domain that is similar to a term that someone else has registered even if there is no evidence that the trademark holder was targeted. Examples of this ‘generalized’ view of bad faith are discussed here: http://www.domaininvesting.com/why-merlins-udrp-win-is-frustrating/#comment-686986
Some panelists don’t view domain investing as legitimate and show undue deference to trademark holders by granting them rights far beyond the rights they have under the law. Ironically it may take a domain investor appearing as a complainant to produce a more balanced interpretation of the UDRP that properly requires evidence that the trademark holder was specifically targeted in order to find bad faith.
Good point, Nat. Matthew Harris is one of the more fair and reasonable panelists, isn’t he?
My understanding of his reputation is that he is considered on the whole to be reasonable in his decisions.
Nat, along those lines creatively domainers could file cases against themselves (seriously) knowing they will loose just to create case history that can then be used later on to protect their other holdings.
Domaining is dead. You cannot make a huge profit as you used to anymore. Why bother then.
Rick’s destiny is success! I’m sure he is sitting in a bath full of money.
I can’t listen because I learned to read. Maybe you should read his 10-15 years of posting.
That is giving back to domainers. Most domainers that are upset and hate are the ones that are buying crappy extensions.
>com is a global brand. You will have to wait 10 years for the others to come around if they do. Jealous is Jealous as always. 🙂
You are absolutely right. I think Rick left from public domaining industry at the right time, the only problem I see is that he should left in peace, sell other domain names in his portfolio and enjoy his life without looking back. Why he filed the UDRP? Just because he can..? C’mon! It was not necessary. It was childish. I wish Rick all the best. If I were him, besides of selling the rest of names he owns, I wouldn’t be involved in any part of domaining. Everything has an expiration, even his amazing era of DomainKing.
you don,t listen
if you read
you listen your own word,s
but you don,t !
Nobody has the right to call himself a KING
so one more time :
are you an UNDERLING ?
One thing is for certain, you can count on UDRP decisions to be inconsistent.
Only reason that I can think of why he would have wasted the time and money to file a UDRP on this is to get publicity (that he craves) by winning the case and getting a story written about it. Seriously and honestly there is no impact at all on what he does if someone else owns that domain name. And as someone has pointed out (don’t know if it’s true of course) domainking.net is available for less than the cost of filing a UDRP.
Nice to see DNW reporting on the story, unlike the domains who only report on how many registrations some crappy gtld got out of China ,,, this is real journalism for sure.
Rick already made his money, nobody knows him as the domain king outside this little inner circle.
Everyone is sick of trademark and patent trolls locking up innovation, I think this win benefits domainers more so than Rick himself… In sure he will sleep fine at night.
All I can say is HAHAHAHAHA. Just as I predicted. Sorry Schwartz, looks like you’re not as KING as you thought. Get over yourself. Get off that high horse.
🙂
Rick Schwartz is a bully. The case has no merit at all, it is all about Rick Schwartz’s ego.
Lose Domain King…so get Domain Queen