Company tries a second crack at domain in UDRP.
Majid Al Futtaim Properties LLC has lost a cybersquatting claim against MallOfOman.com for a second time.
The company, based in Egypt, operates malls around the Middle East using the “Mall of (location)” naming pattern. MallofOman.com is owned by another mall operator, which recently forwarded the domain to its website.
Majid Al Futtaim Properties filed a UDRP against this same domain in 2018. In that dispute, the World Intellectual Property Organization panelist found that the Complainant didn’t show that the domain was registered in bad faith.
In the refiled case, Majid Al Futtaim Properties brings up five things that it says justify a refiled case. The three-person National Arbitration Forum panel dismissed each of the reasons.
One of the more amusing reasons for refiling was that the Complainant now had a copy of an instruction letter submitted to its attorneys, asking it to file a trademark application at an earlier date than when it actually filed it. It said “a technical error in the archiving system” prevented the Complainant from providing this instruction letter in the previous proceeding. (This date is somewhat relevant because it predates the domain registration, whereas the trademark application postdated it.) But the panel pointed out that the Complainant could have just delayed its UDRP filing until it got a copy of the letter.
Majid Al Futtaim Properties has a mixed record in MallOf___ domain disputes. It won cases for MallofEgypt.com and MallofSaudi.com. It lost disputes against MallofEgypt.com and MallofOman.com. It shows that the details of each case matter.
The company was also found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a dispute against CityCentre.com.
Abu-Ghazaleh Intellectual Property TMP Agents (AGIP) represented the Complainant. This is a different law firm than the first dispute, but the same in the RDNH for CityCentre.com. The law firm has a connection Arab Center for Dispute Resolution, an ICANN-accredited UDRP provider. So hey, maybe they should file there next.
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