American Studies Center d/b/a Radio America just won a UDRP on the domain name RadioAmerica.com which was owned by Jet Stream Enterprises Limited.
The panel found the complainant had a common law a trademark on the term going back to 1985 when Radio America started broadcasting.
In 1996 the Complainant registered RadioAmerica.org
In 1998 the domain holder registered RadioAmerica.com
Here are the relevant findings on the one member panel:
Complainant owns common law rights in the RADIO AMERICA mark.
Complainant has been using the RADIO AMERICA mark in commerce in the United States since 1985 in connection with “radio network shows involving a wide array of subjects in the United States,” including news, talk, documentary, and short feature radio programs.
Complainant spends, on average, over $1,000,000 annually on marketing and advertising related expenses to promote itself and its programs.
Complainant’s radio programs are now carried on over 500 affiliate radio stations, Sirius/XM Radio, and American Forces Radio.
Complainant registered its radioamerica.org on October 20, 1996, while Respondent registered the <adioamerica.com domain name nearly two years later on August 14, 1998.
Complainant also owns the radioamericanetwork.com domain name.
The one member panel didn’t even consider the issue that the domain name was 13 years old and the issue of latches, of course the domain holder didn’t help by not filing a response.
The panel found that “Respondent has a history of cybersquatting and of not responding to claims made against it for cybersquatting.”
So a good lesson for all domainers of the dangers of not responding to UDRP and building up a losing record.
“It appears that Respondent has registered the <radioamerica.com> domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration. “
“Although, the Panel notes that Respondent has held the disputed domain name for over fifteen years, there appear to be sufficient grounds to determine that Respondent did in fact register the <radioamerica.com> domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration. “
“Respondent has a history of cybersquatting and of not responding to claims made against it for cybersquatting. Complainant cites several prior UDRP decisions in which Respondent was held to have registered domain names in bad faith. “
There really needs to be a statute of limitations on these objections. 1998? If someone crashed into your car in 1998, or defaulted on a loan in 1998, and you didn’t act on it within a few years, you couldn’t file a claim against them in 2013. It’s not relevant what the complainant has been doing with its common law trademark in the years since 1998, because the domain in question was already registered. They should be required to prove that they already had an established business and trademark at the time the registration was made. Maybe Apple Records will file an objection over the 1987 registration of apple.com.
What does John Berryhill say? 🙂
Anyone else think it’s fairly idiotic of American Studies Center to only register the .org in 1996?