A domain name can’t be renewed in bad faith under UDRP.
A chain of coffee shops has tried (and failed) to use the “renewed in bad faith” argument in a cybersquatting dispute.
Revelry Partners, LLC, which runs coffee and wine bars by the name Ascension Coffee, filed a UDRP against AscensionCoffee.com.
The complainant claimed rights back to 2012, but the current owner registered the domain name in 2010.
Represented by Lisa Greenwald-Swire of Fish & Richardson, P.C., the coffee company made the argument that the domain owner renewed the domain name in bad faith last year.
Actually, she got a bit more creative than that. The National Arbitration Forum decision indicates that the argument was that the respondent reregistered the domain after allowing the domain registration to lapse.
The respondent didn’t reply to the assertions, so the panel reached out to GoDaddy to inquire what the circumstances were for the 2017 renewal. GoDaddy responded:
A review of ASCENSIONCOFFEE.COM shows that the domain was auto-renewed on December 8, 2017 per the settings in the account.
The domain expired on December 3. So the domain might have been renewed during the grace period, perhaps after updating a payment method. But no matter; this domain was continuously registered by the respondent since 2010.
The three-person panel found in favor of the respondent because the dates precluded a finding of bad faith registration.
Acro says
Register/renew such domains a decade at a time – give them time to rethink their strategy.
Joseph Peterson says
Wrong perhaps, but it is at least understandable why a coffee shop chain called “Ascension Coffee” – which is a pretty unlikely word pairing – would imagine bad faith when they see somebody else owns AscensionCoffee.com.
Most people don’t understand domain names, and whois records (where expiration dates are visible) look cluttered, making them hard to interpret for a layperson.
An educated lawyer ought to have emphasized that this domain registration predates the coffee shop’s use of the name. But, if that wasn’t made clear, we can at least understand WHY the complainant would think they had a legitimate case.
Very different from going after a dictionary-word .COM with broad applications just because someone wants to upgrade.
Anon says
Apparently, Ms. Greenwald-Swire is an uneducated lawyer in this regard. Wasted her client’s time and money due to her ignorance or willful indifference.
Data Glasses says
Are you saying a lawyer was in it just for the money? Say it isn’t true!
John says
What I want to know is, who in the world registers “Ascension Coffee” to begin with? I’m a think outside the box kind of guy who’s registered many over the years, but seriously. LOL. Okay, let’s see, coffee helps you ascend, yada yada. Nope, dropped many much better than that before…
Andrew Allemann says
The guy owns a coffee shop
John says
Ok, that changes everything.
Jane Doe says
The difference between the “better domains” you dropped and the ascension coffee domain question seems to be the fact that people want ascension coffee
Kathy says
The ascension coffee domain question seems to be the fact that people want ascension coffee. LOL. let’s see, coffee helps you to ascend. I dropped many much better than that earlier.