Company uses UDRP to regain control of domains it says were stolen.
A World Intellectual Property Organization panelist has ordered (pdf) the domains PV.com and PacketVideo.com to be returned to PacketVideo Corporation in California.
The company told the panel that the domain names were stolen from its Network Solutions account. The perpetrator then demanded $17,000 in Bitcoin to return the domain names.
Panelist Georges Nahitchevansky struggled with the question of whether PacketVideo Corporation had trademarks related to the domains. He determined the rights are weak, but also that if a hacker targeted them, there must be some sort of notoriety.
I’m a bit confused by the timeline of the alleged theft. The Complainant alleged that it lost control of the domains in March 2023, and then the hacker reached out demanding the ransom. But historical Whois records for the domains show that the Whois information changed in early 2021.
Given the value of the assets at issue, I hope the panelist reviewed actual proof of the ransom demand.
Hmm, myself if I was investigating this ,would very much have doubted this was a legit UDRP. The company who allegedly have a TM since 1998 might not even exist. Indeed I found this link and tried the number which does NOT answer as PacketVideo (it answers as law offices) https://www.yelp.com/biz/packetvideo-corporation-san-diego-2
It just does not ring true to me. No address given on the UDRP for Complainant that I can see, but the address on that link is “the” PacketVideo that had/has the TM. Just doesnt ring true. There just is not enough in the UDRP to show that the Complainant actually is the same company/person as from 1998 etc, could be an impostor .Well they did a good job.
On this same type of subject, well similar. Under ICANN rules, if “a” Company goes out of existence by bankruptcy,liquidation etc, can the Registrar simply take over the .com domain ?