I’ve finally found someone to clean up that meth lab in my basement.
Every once in a while I come across a pending domain name dispute under Uniform domain-name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) that makes me scratch my head in bewilderment.
Here’s one such case: Meth-LabCleanup.com. The case was just filed at National Arbitration Forum, so we don’t know who filed it yet. But there is an operating web site at MethLabCleanup.com, and the site at Meth-LabCleanup.com looks like a competitor. Still, convincing a panel of rights to “Meth Lab Cleanup” will be like buying a 48-pack of Sudafed from the pharmacist ever since the meth crackdown began.
In other recent UDRP cases, this week saw a number of complaints denied.
One interesting one was Meatery.com, filed by a German hotel company that opened a restaurant called Meatery. It uses the web site Meatery.de It argued that, as an international company, it really needed .com in addition to .de. It also argued it made up the term Meatery, even though the respondent (who has a meat distribution business) registered the domain name many years prior to the Meatery restaurant opening. I guess the respondent is a psychic butcher.
Another case in which the complainant failed was for SBB.com. This case was filed by The Swiss Federal Railways. Unfortunately, WIPO seems slow to post the actual written decision, so I’ll update you once it goes online.
Steve M says
Ridiculous.
With some 10’s of thousands of Google references alone, Meatery is no less a generic word than our Steakery.
Made up the term “Meatery?” I don’t think so.
And in Meatery’s case, it looks like there’s never even been a US TM applied for; much less issued.
Another mistake they made.
JKM says
The fact is MR. Imparl, you clearly have no understanding of the laws surrounding these types of cases. And, your disregard for the rights of business owners is quite obvious. Anyone who would retain an attorney who would make such a comment without knowing the details and facts about anything would be a fool! As it happens, I am the owner of the methlabcleanup domain and the one who filed the arbitration case with ICCAN. Just for your information, the name is also trademarked with a total of 3 certificates! Let me repaet that, 3 certificates! And just so you all know, we won the case! Hands Down! Not only that, you should see the decision, the judge slammed the respondent in more ways than you could imagine. So, If you own a trademark and another person infringes on your rights, do everything you can to protect it! There are vultures out there that feed on other peoples good names. And,obviously you should be careful who you choose as an attorney if you get my drift!