MINNEAPOLIS, February 27, 2008 1,805 Disputes over Domain Names Filed in 2007
The National Arbitration Forum, an international provider of alternative dispute resolution services, administered a total of 1,805 domain name disputes in 2007, up from 1,658 disputes in 2006. The National Arbitration Forum has been approved as a domain name dispute resolution program provider by the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) since 1999.
The National Arbitration Forum reports at the end of 2007:
* UDRP domain names with common extensions like .com, .net, and .org accounted for 1,775 filings. * usDRP domain names with the .us extension accounted for 30 filings. * Of the 1,805 filings, Panelists heard 1,391 cases; parties worked together to settle many of the rest. * There were 9,916 total domain name complaints filed since 1999. * Of those filings, Panelists heard 8,006 cases; the parties settled many of the rest.
“Our dispute resolution program is available to deal quickly with the core problem: a domain name registered and being abused by a party who cannot claim legitimate rights to it,” said Internet Legal Counsel Kristine Dorrain. “The National Arbitration Forum offers a fair and inexpensive resolution process with none of the jurisdictional hassles found in court.”
Cases filed with the National Arbitration Forum are heard and decided by independent and neutral Panelists who often have specialized domain name, trademark, copyright and/or e-commerce experience. Panelists are located around the world and can conduct proceedings in several languages including English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, and Korean. The National Arbitration Forum will continue to expand foreign language capabilities in 2008.
Notable 2007 decisions involved famous trademarks such as Angels, Disney, Hershey’s Kisses, Jimmy Buffett, Univision, WarGames and Webkinz. National Arbitration Forum domain name dispute proceedings and decisions are available in the searchable case database.
Complainant, Google Inc., brought a claim against Respondent, David Miller, disputing Respondent’s ownership of the domain name. YouTube, owned by Complainant, provides online video services through a website where users can download and share original videos. Respondent’s website at the domain name allowed Internet users to download videos from the YouTube service for personal use, which Complainant asserted was in direct violation of YouTube’s terms of use. Respondent argued that the website included a prominent disclaimer disassociating it from Complainant, and that its services work not in competition, but in conjunction, with Complainant’s services. Pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(a)(i), the Panel found that Complainant had established rights in the YOUTUBE mark through registration and continuous use of the mark, and that the domain name was identical to the YOUTUBE mark. The Panel next found that Respondent failed to establish rights or legitimate interests in the disputed domain name under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii), because Respondent’s use of the domain name to redirect Internet users to its commercial website did not constitute a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Finally, the Panel found that Respondent was attempting to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users who would be confused as to Complainant’s affiliation with the domain name and Respondent’s corresponding website. The Panel was of the view that this indicated Respondent’s bad faith registration and use pursuant to Policy ¶ 4(b)(iv). The Panel further concluded that inclusion of a disclaimer did not mitigate bad faith registration and use by Respondent under Policy ¶ 4(a)(iii). Thus, the Panel ordered that the domain name be transferred from Respondent to Complainant. Google Inc. v. Miller, FA 1067791 (Nat. Arb. Forum Oct. 24, 2007)