Two valuable dictionary word domains are subject to UDRP filings.
After publishing my story this morning about the fight between a lotto company and Lotto Sport, a reader pointed out that Lotto.com was recently hit with a UDRP. It’s not the only recent filing against a valuable dictionary term domain name.
For Lotto.com, the case was filed by Bremer Toto und Lotto GmbH. The company uses the domain name lotto-bremen.de. I’m not sure how lotteries work in Germany, so perhaps a reader can chime in with information on if this is a local lotto or some sort of national lottery in Germany.
The domain is registered to a company called Cavour Ltd. based in Isle of Man.
The second domain that caught my attention is Naturals.com. WIPO shows the Complainant to be Veena Kumaravel, an entrepreneur with a chain of 550 beauty salons in India that use the name Naturals. The company uses the domain Naturals.in.
The domain is registered to Daegu Law Auction in Korea.
[Update: Elliot Silver has more info on Naturals.com]
The Complainant appears to be a GERMANY only based company with Tradenarks for a Figurative “LOTTO” trademark from 1996 which only is Valid in Germany, I hope that they ask for German Jurisdiction for the UDRP ,but probably not.
The thieves are brazen.
IMHO zero chances of getting the name in both cases … 🙂
LOTTO is obviously a generic, dictionary word …
In the case of NATURALS, Ms Veena Kumaravel has no registered TMs on the term, not even in India.
Interestingly, she filed 3 TMs in the past, one in 2013 for the word term “Naturals” in Nice class 3, which was REFUSED by Indian IP authorities, one in 2015 for the word term “Natural’s@”, which was OBJECTED, and one in 2018 for the figurative TM “Naturals” you see in her company’s homepage, which was OPPOSED.
Now she’s trying to get the name for cheap through a UDRP …
You can NOT trademark the term “Lotto” for the business of playing Lotto.
You can NOT trademark the term “Apple” for the business of selling Apples.
This bully-company in Germany is going nuts. They have lots of money and therefore are just greedy thieves.
It’s always the same story with these big companies: stupid and greedy.