Lost .eu domain names?

2006-08-10
Dispute cases on .eu are growing rapidly. 90 decisions have been made up until now and there are many more to come.

We have picked out one of the most recent cases. The Czech Arbitration Court was appointed by EURid on 12 April 2005 to provide alternative dispute resolution (ADR) for .eu domain name disputes.

The parties
The complainant in this case is a big German financial institution and the respondent is a German Municipality with 6727 inhabitants. Wüstenrot Holding AG (the complainant) claims that the domain name wuestenrot .eu has been registered in bad faith by the German Municipality Wüstenrot.

The decision
Würstenrot Holding has been using the name wuestenrot for the past 80 years and runs the company websites with the domain name “Wuestenrot” under several TLD’s like .de, .com, .info, .at, .cz, .sk, .pl, .hr, .lu. The respondent denied the accusations about having registered the domain name in bad faith. The panel held that the complainant has a registered trademark identical to the disputed domain name. Furthermore the panel held that the disputed domain name beyond reasonable doubt attracts internet users expecting to find Wüstenrot Holding AG under the disputed domain name and not the respondent Gemeinde Wüstenrot. The respondent would although being a public body gain from the confusion which qualify the registration as being made in bad faith. The panel therefore decided to transfer the domain name to Wüstenrot Holding.

To see more decisions go to http://www.adr.eu/

When filing a complaint the complianant must describe, in accordance with the ADR Rules, the grounds on which the Complaint is made including, in particular:

(i) In case of an ADR Proceeding against the Domain Name Holder in respect of which domain name the Complaint is initiated:

A) why the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the name or names in respect of which a right or rights are recognized or established by national and/or Community law (as specified and described in accordance with Paragraph B 1 (b) (9)); and, either

B) why the domain name has been registered by its holder without rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name that is the subject of the Complaint; or

C) why the domain name should be considered as having been registered or being used in bad faith.

(ii) In case of an ADR Proceeding against the Registry:

A) the reasons why a decision taken by the Registry conflicts with European Union Regulations.




Sources: EURid

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