French company loses cybersquatting complaint against gong.com.
In the 1970s game show The Gong Show, entertainers would perform before a panel of judges. If the entertainer was particularly bad, a judge could strike a gong to stop the performance.
Somebody should have struck a gong during a recent UDRP.
French water sports company Gong Galaxy tried to reverse hijack the domain gong.com, a World Intellectual Property Organization panelist ruled (pdf).
The domain is owned by an Arizona man named Jeffrey Gong, so it was easy for panelist Matthew Kennedy to find the domain registrant had rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. Kennedy also found the domain wasn’t registered or used in bad faith.
Gong Galaxy tried to acquire the domain name in February 2023 but didn’t hear back from Gong. So it filed a UDRP last month. Once receiving the registrar’s verification of the domain registrant’s name, it filed an amended complaint naming him.
Panelist Matthew Kennedy found the case was filed in bad faith:
…the disputed domain name was registered 28 years ago. The Complainant made no effort to substantiate its allegation that it had a significant reputation at that time. The Complainant’s mark is a short dictionary word and not highly distinctive. Although the Complainant alleged that the Respondent’s registration and use of the disputed domain name disrupted its business, it lacked any evidence that this was the Respondent’s aim. Instead, the Complainant engaged in speculation regarding the “coming soon” page, potential email scams, and the Respondent’s existence, identity, and contact details. The Complainant has legal representation in this proceeding. In these circumstances, the Complainant clearly ought to have known it could not succeed under any fair interpretation of the facts and arguments that it presented. Even though the Complainant received no reply to its offer to discuss an eventual transfer/purchase, filing a Complaint under the UDRP alleging bad faith registration and use was not an appropriate course of action.
AtlantIP represented Gong Galaxy. Jaburg & Wilk, P.C. represented the domain name owner.
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