Group that oversees DOC designation for prosecco tells court it is not seeking transfer of domains.
Consorzio di Tutela della Denominazione di Origine Controllata Prosecco, an Italian organization that manages and oversees the “Denominazione di Origine Controllata” (“DOC”) designation for prosecco, has given up its demand for the domain names prosecco.com and proseccoDOC.com.
The organization filed a lawsuit in the United Kingdom last year, but U.S.-based Best Drinks, LLC, which claims to be the actual registrant of the domains, said the lawsuit was filed against the domain’s prior owners.
Best Drinks subsequently sued in a U.S. court in Virginia, asking for declaratory relief.
Consorzio di Tutela della Denominazione di Origine Controllata Prosecco told the judge in Virginia that it was no longer seeking the domain names. This would allow it to not submit to U.S. jurisdiction.
As a result, at a hearing today, the judge ruled that there was no personal jurisdiction (which would be required under the Lanham Act for a registrant seeking declaratory relief before there is an actual court order affecting the domain names), which will lead to the case being dismissed.
The organization’s lawsuit in the UK continues, but it told the U.S. court that it’s only seeking remedies for trademark infringement in the UK and is not challenging the ownership of the domain names.
Attorney Jeffrey Neuman, who represented Best Drinks in the U.S. lawsuit, told Domain Name Wire, “Although we lost the battle, we won the war. Consorzio stated on the record that they are no longer contesting the ownership of prosecco.com and 25 other prosecco-related domain names.”
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