Runner-up bidder won a UDRP against winner of expired domain auction.
Domain name investment firm Mira Holdings has filed a lawsuit (pdf) to halt the transfer of the domain name NexusMutual.com.
The company bought the domain for $53,499 in a DropCatch.com expired domain auction in 2023.
That was before the crypto insurance company Nexus Mutual Limited had a registered trademark for Nexus Mutual. However, the insurance company claimed common law rights predating the expired domain auction.
The majority of a World Intellectual Property Organization panel ruled (pdf) that the domain should be transferred. The majority pointed out that Mira Holdings has been a party to many UDRPs, and should have at least done a Google search for the name before bidding. (The company has done Google searches before bidding on less expensive domains, according to a previous UDRP).
A search would likely have turned up the crypto company.
One panelist disagreed with the decision, but the majority ordered the domain to be transferred.
Mira Holding’s lawsuit alleges that Nexus Mutual Limited was the runner-up in the DropCatch auction, bidding $52,500. The suit states that Nexus Mutual Limited offered to buy the domain for $25,000 last year, before filing the UDRP.
Mira Holdings argues that Nexus Mutual Limited did not have common law rights in the name and claims this is a case of reverse domain name hijacking.
The company has previously filed similar lawsuits after losing UDRPs.
Where is the UDRP decision? Both attachments are for the court order.
Thanks in advance Andrew.
fixed. Oddly, WIPO hasn’t published it yet, so the lawsuit is the only source.
Sounds like they won it in auction in hopes to sell it to the company for more down the road. I see no other reason to pay that much for it. Not from a company that invests in domain names anyways.