DRS - Bad Faith Question

[David]

Hello.

In my response to a complaint, can I use bad faith similar to the example below...

Blue Jumpers Ltd is founded in 2005. There is no evidence to show trade i.e. invoices etc except for certificate of incorporation.

Lets say in 2005 bluejumpers.co.uk is already registered and the owner is can't be contacted. For some reason Blue Jumpers Ltd don't proceed with the DRS.

In 2007 bluejumpers.co.uk drops and someone else registers it in good faith and begins to develop it. Blue Jumpers Ltd gets annoyed and starts a DRS.

What I am getting at is the company has waited until now to request the domain via a DRS even though they were incorporated 2 years before I owned the domain.

In the complaint they claim that they only operate by internet and phone but moan that they have recently (since bluejumpers.co.uk was caught) have had to register a similar domain i.e. blue-jumpers.co.uk. Why didn't they try and get bluejumpers.co.uk when the previous owner had it?

Because they are bitter at not getting the domain when it dropped?

Thanks.

 

[enworb]

I really hope that they don't have a leg to stand on. Are you certain that they didn't preceed with DRS with the previous owner and lost?

 

[David]

Hi enworb

I dont know for sure that they didnt challenge the previous owners. Is there a way to check DRS disputes by name rather than case number?

 

[rob]

In the complaint they claim that they only operate by internet and phone but moan that they have recently (since bluejumpers.co.uk was caught) have had to register a similar domain i.e. blue-jumpers.co.uk. Why didn't they try and get bluejumpers.co.uk when the previous owner had it?

What date was the hyphen one registered?

Because they are bitter at not getting the domain when it dropped?

More than likely.

I dont know for sure that they didnt challenge the previous owners. Is there a way to check DRS disputes by name rather than case number?

You can use google to do keyword searches on the Nominet site, that includes the PDFs of decisions.

For the DRS they need to show rights and abusive use so keep an eye on the latter.

 

[bb99]

David

It's easy, when responding to a DRS, to get lost in the weeds... Just to elaborate on Rob's final sentence, the complainant needs to prove two things:

- firstly that they have rights in the name

- secondly that your registration/use is abusive

Taking their rights, just having a limited company called "Blue Jumpers Limited" does not automatically give them enough rights in a DRS. As you have pointed out, they need to show that they have built up rights in the name... and they can do this by providing information such as advertising, invoices, etc. If they have just relied upon a Certificate of Incorporation then this puts them in a very precarious position as they may not even pass the first hurdle of the DRS when (if) the expert makes the decision.

On the second point, if you can prove that you made preparations to develop the domain name (or indeed started developing it) then this will go a long way to helping prove that your registration was not abusive. To assist in proving this, you should supply as much evidence as you can such as invoices, emails and maybe even source code or mock ups of the pages.

Going back to one of your other posts, the fact that the name may have been registered using a dropcatching service may muddy the water a bit - but not if you have dotted all the Is and crossed all the Ts in respect of the points above.

Good luck