Speakers bureau tries to reverse hijack domain name – Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News
Domain was registered six years before the speakers bureau launched.
A World Intellectual Property Organization panelist has found (pdf) Mena Speakers LLC to have tried reverse hijacking the domain name menaspeakers.com.
The company operates on the domain mena-speakers.com. MENA commonly refers to the Middle East and North Africa.
Mena Speakers LLC launched in 2016, six years after menaspeakers.com was registered.
That made this case dead on arrival. Mena Speakers failed to make an argument that the domain was registered in bad faith, as required.
Even though the complainant knew the timeline before filing, it proceeded with the complaint, only to ask to withdraw it with prejudice after receiving the response.
The domain owner balked, and the panelist agreed the case should continue.
Panelist Assen Alexiev admonished the company for filing a case it should have known it couldn’t win and for failing to reveal that its U.S. trademark application was denied because it was considered descriptive.
John Berryhill represented the respondent.
We write rarely, but only the best content.
