WIPO panelist pisses on domain name dispute

Panelist says case is outside the narrow confines of UDRP.

A World Intellectual Property Organization panel has denied (pdf) a cybersquatting claim against the domain names urinator .net and theurinators .com.

Innovative Research Technology, Inc., which sells kits to help people foil urination drug tests, filed the dispute against Christopher Swain and Robert Grimm of 513 Ventures, LLC.

The domain registrants sell devices that compete with the Complainant.

World Intellectual Property Organization panelist Evan D. Brown determined that the case wasn’t suited for the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP):

The Panel finds this dispute to involve issues touching on trademark infringement, unfair competition, and perhaps other intellectual property issues that are beyond the type of abusive cybersquatting the Policy was designed to address. For example, because the Respondent has been using at least one of the disputed domain names in its business for at least 12 years, principles of equity, including laches, may apply. Additionally, despite registration of the mark on the United States Principal Register, the mark URINATOR corresponds also to a dictionary term (to certain extent) related to the goods offered. Given the apparent long-term coexistence of the parties, a tribunal might need to assess the presence or absence of actual consumer confusion in the marketplace as a relevant factor in determining the parties’ respective rights. Simply stated, the fair resolution of this case requires more weighing of evidence, and more analysis, than what is available in proceedings under the Policy.

UDRP is designed to handle clear-cut cybersquatting cases, and Brown determined that this is not such a case.