Company loses two UDRPs for Spanish language domain names.
Big brands occasionally lose cybersquatting disputes. But two in a row with similar circumstances?
That’s what happened to Intel south of the border.
The company just got back-to-back losses on two Spanish language domain names including the word “Intel”. Both of the domains are registered to different people in Sonora, Mexico.
The first case involved intelcompras.com. IntelCompras.com is an active business with 120,000 visitors on average per month and sales in excess of 24 million pesos during 2011. The owner said he chose the name because “intel” is a widely used abbreviation for “intelligence”. So the domain basically translates to “Intelligent Buy”.
The second case involved intelsitio.com and is owned by a company that provides web services. In this case, the owner claimed it means “intelligent site”.
Both domain owners put up spirited defenses. And it’s no wonder; Intel was effectively trying to take down established businesses.
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is designed for clear cut cases of abusive cybersquatting. If Intel believes these companies are trading on the goodwill of its Intel brand, it should pursue them on unfair competition or trademark claims (as one of the panelists points out). This isn’t cybersquatting, and certainly not something that should be settled by a single person arbitration panel.
Mike says
Intel did not believe they were cybersquatting. They just used it as an excuse to try and steal the two domains, IMO.
Intel ……. who would have thought they would be as bad as a thief with a knife in an alley? They just employ lawyers with their own types of knives, so to speak.
Intel , what a dirty, slimy company for apparently trying to steal these domains.
Juan says
Hmm… This doesn’t seem right. Why would someone name a site «Inteligente Compras», when this doesn’t make sense in Spanish. It’s like saying “Purchases Intelligent “, in English. In Spanish the adjective comes after the noun, not before. So “red apple”, in English, would be «manzana roja», in Spanish.
This is kind of fishy… The sites should really be comprasIntel.com and sitioIntel.com. Hmm… I bet I could use these sites to phish unsuspecting people… Just saying.