Group relied on usage prior to domain owner’s acquisition of the domain.
A UDRP panelist has found that The University Athletic Association, Inc., a nonprofit associated with the University of Florida, attempted reverse domain name hijacking.
The organization, which acts on behalf of the university’s athletic department, filed a cybersquatting claim against the domain TheSwamp.com. University of Florida’s football stadium is nicknamed The Swamp.
Michael LeValley bought the domain for $3,500 in 2016. He has a trademark for clothing using the Swamp Yankee brand. LeValley later listed the domain for sale for $150,000.
While the case is a bit unclear about whether the domain was purchased for that brand or as an investment, it is clear that the complainant’s case cites usage prior to LeValley’s purchase of the domain.
The University Athletic Association relied on site archives from 1999-2002, when the domain was used for a fan site for the university’s athletics. The site at the time noted “Web site design by Die-Hard-Bleeding-Orange-and-Blue Gator Sean Fletcher (’92).”
Panelist Lynda Braun found that the domain owner had rights or legitimate interests in the domain. In finding reverse domain name hijacking, Braun noted that the “Complainant’s own cited evidence identifies a party – namely, Sean Fletcher — other than Respondent as responsible for the creation of the website content, and because Complainant omitted from its own Annex E-2 the explicit language crediting Sean Fletcher with the website’s design, the Panel finds that the Complaint was filed without a good-faith basis either intentionally or merely carelessly.”
Malloy & Malloy, P.L. represented the complainant, and Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP represented the domain owner.
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