Company goes after domain name that was registered before it started using the name as a brand.
A pet apparel and supplies company has been found to have engaged in reverse domain name hijacking over the domain name PetLife.com.
Pet Life, LLC, which uses the domain name PetLifeCentral.com, filed a cybersquatting claim with National Arbitration Forum. The company claimed that the owner of PetLife.com was cybersquatting because it isn’t using the domain name and has listed the domain for sale with prices as high as $100,000.
But the domain owner registered the domain well before Pet Life started using its brand. (The trademark it relies on is a figurative mark, too.) So it was impossible that the domain was registered in 2003 to target the as-yet-non-existent brand.
A three-person panel of Scott Austin, David Einhorn and Paul DeCicco made the finding.
PetLife is a brand? Incredible