Domaining.com owner sues to retain ownership of Ado.com and asks for a finding of reverse domain name hijacking.
Francois Carrillo, the owner of domain blog aggregator Domaining.com, has sued (pdf) Mexican bus company Autobuses dr Oriente ADO, S.A. de C.V. after a UDRP panel ordered his domain Ado.com transferred. He is seeking the UDRP to be overturned and is asking for a penalty for reverse domain name hijacking.
The World Intellectual Property Organization UDRP decision came as a shock as the panelists handed over a valuable three-letter domain name to a Mexican company that Carrillo, who lives in France, said he hadn’t heard of when he bought the domain name. The decision also had misstatements about pricing of domain names.
The suit questions claims made by the bus company in its UDRP complaint such as the existence of U.S. trademarks. It also points out that the bus company’s lawyer in the UDRP was also an accredited UDRP panelist, suggesting potential bias by the three peer panelists. The ability for lawyers to serve as counsel in UDRP cases while also being accredited panelists is a big issue for UDRP fairness.
David Weslow of Wiley Rein LLP is representing Carrillo. Weslow has handled several similar cases that resulted in the original UDRP complainant paying to settle the case.
The case was filed in Denver because the bus company agreed to submit itself to jurisdiction there when it filed the UDRP; it is the location of NameBright, which is the registrar of record for Ado.com.
Uknowledge says
Hope he wins and shames them all.Gooduck in advance ,Francois.
Domenclature.com says
I was an outrageous decision!
And the most annoying part was trying to use sample logos used to edify a potential buyer’s imagination as a real bad faith infringement, how pathetic for this wayward panelist!
Domenclature.com says
I = It
Michael says
Good luck Francois! Glad to hear you’re fighting this train wreck of a decision.
@domains says
Go get them in court!
Seb says
Way to go Francois !!
John P says
Did he use a lawyer for the UDRP?
Domainer says
I hope this he wins and gets a reverse domajne hijacking and damages and then Ask for million for the name.
Taylor says
Say this was a Uniregistry domain, and had to be filed in the Cayman Islands, anyone know how that would differ from the US, my assumption is the burden of proof is much harder.
Andrew Allemann says
There is no requirement that you file a lawsuit in the jurisdiction where the complainant submitted to when filing the UDRP. It just means that the complainant agrees that it will submit to jurisdiction there if the lawsuit is filed there.
I imagine if Francois sued in France, ADO’s first response would be to claim the courts there did not have jurisdiction. Denver shouldn’t be questioned because ADO already agreed to it.
John says
Andrew you say that BUT I have one where the Complainant submitted to “a” Jurisdiction and then when legal case was filed they THEN fought the Jurisdiction. Once the dust settles will give you all details. So basically the undertakings given by lawyers when filing a UDRP are worthless.
Andrew Allemann says
Did they successfully fight the jurisdiction or just try to fight it?
Rod says
We need to really take a stand against domain hijacking. If nothing else brings the domain community together, this should.
Nick says
Wish he could also sue the WIPO for never taking disciplinary actions against bad panelists.
R P says
“It also points out that the bus company’s lawyer in the UDRP was also an accredited UDRP panelist”
Makes more sense now. Hard to argue this is not a conflict of interest. ADO’s attorney was clearly very good at creating “confusingly similiar” to other panelists (whom he might or might not personally know), and now we know why.
Bill Kara says
No comment by the ICA? What do they do again?
Andrew Allemann says
I don’t think ICA typically comments on individual domain name disputes, although it might refer to them in subsequent positions about how UDRP can be improved.
Bill Kara says
If your asking price can be used against you and a 3rd party can arbitrarily tell you what’s high, too high or fair then this is a major issue that needs to be addressed might be the only issue that we should be talking about it’s that serious.
Nat Cohen says
Hi Bill,
An ICA statement on the ado.com decision is being released shortly. As Andrew says, we don’t typically comment on individual domain disputes. The ado.com decision is, however, a particularly egregious decision that directly harms the domain industry. That such a decision could be issued highlights several of the serious flaws in the UDRP that the ICA is working to fix. We recently released the first draft of our policy position on UDRP reform, available here: https://www.internetcommerce.org/icas-udrp-reform-policy-platform-2018/.
The flawed decision in ado.com relates to numerous worrisome issues, such as consequences of forum shopping, potential for biased panelist accreditation, potential for panelist conflict of interest, lack of community produced guidelines for interpreting the UDRP, and a failure to find a legitimate interest in operating a business on investment quality domains. The ICA’s Policy Platform recommends reforms to remedy these problems.
Thanks to those who have stepped up to become members of the ICA, the ICA is able to advocate on behalf of the entire domain industry.
Regards,
Nat
@domains says
https://www.internetcommerce.org/icas-udrp-reform-policy-platform-2018/
Snoopy says
Well done Francois!
domainscot says
Francois wishing you all best in reclaiming back what was stolen from you by corrupt system.
Data Glasses says
The lawyer should be banned from being on any future panels, what a joke
Todd says
Good move Francois. I hope David effectuates a positive outcome for you.
martin says
Francois, suggestion, start a GoFundMe campaign.
mohd says
Once Francois wins the case, Ado.com should be developed into a A domain marketplace, its already so famous. It may become the most popular.
But i’d also like to see Francois get paid at least double what he asked for.
Good luck to him.
Alan Dodd says
Great going Francois.
They might be a bus company, but they’ve just bought themselves an express ticket to absolutely nowhere!
Logan says
Go Francois!
John Colascione says
Reads as a very strong suit supporting the facts of this case…. Good luck to Weslow of Wiley Rein and Francois!
elevator says
oh! Nice to hear this good news and I hope you win the case and put them to shame.
That is a bold step in the right direction. Good luck.
John says
Excellent and glad that Francois is fighting this .Touch wood wont take too long,
Joe Ray says
The question was not answered about were you registered your domain and if it is better to have it registered in the US or Cayman Islands. Can anyone help with that?
Dan says
Good to hear this is being contested, hope he sees it all the way through