Company left key detail out of cybersquatting complaint against Modz.com.
The owner of Modz.com registered it for its video gaming connotation and operated a website using the domain name for a year or two after acquiring it in 2008. Now the domain is parked with gaming ads.
That shows rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. It also shows that it wasn’t registered and used in bad faith.
A three person World Intellectual Property Organization panel went a step further, deciding that Modz filed its case in bad faith. The company disclosed a 2016 overture it made to buy the domain name but failed to disclose a $4,000 offer it made in 2009. At that time the complainant did not mention a trademark and the domain owner explained why he acquired the domain name.
The panel considered this a case of “Plan B” reverse domain name hijacking in which a company files a UDRP after failing to acquire a domain name via commercial means.
The domain owner was represented by John Berryhill. The reverse domain name hijacker was represented by Marion le Marchard Avocat.
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