Tignes loses domain name dispute for Tignes.com.
Ah, France. Beautiful vistas, tasty food, and governments that think they have all rights to their city names.
Following in the footsteps of Paris, Tignes has lost a UDRP for the domain name Tignes.com.
Commune de Tignes originally filed a complaint against the domain owners in Tribunal de grande instance de Lyon (French Court), arguing that the domain name infringed the Complainant’s figurative trademark TIGNES. In 2001 the court dismissed the commune’s claim.
Fast forward to 2010 and Tignes, apparently not realizing that Paris has lost similar cases, tried its hand at UDRP. A one person panel ruled that the domain name was not registered and used in bad faith and that its owners had rights or legitimate interests in the domain. Currently the owners have an informational web site that does not include ads.
The panelist stopped short of finding reverse domain name hijacking against Commune de Tignes, citing a lack of evidence put forth by the respondents.
Acro says
It should be pointed out that the owner of Tignes.com is in France, therefore it’s easier to consider such an action when a trademark is at stake.