How to lose a $175,000 domain name in a UDRP: #5 in 2016

Firm seemingly targets bank with domain name and loses it in a UDRP.

You buy a domain name for $175,000. It’s a geo domain name, but it also matches a famous trademark.

Do you a) make sure to only use it in the geo sense or b) antagonize the trademark holder?

The firm that bought Halifax.com did the latter, and it cost them the domain name in a UDRP. This story was the fifth most-read on Reglike this year.

Following buying the domain name, Diversity Network registered similar domain names that seemed to target Bank of Scotland’s financial services firm Halifax. It also created a financial site on Halifax.com.

As stated by the UDRP, Diversity Network also reached out to Bank of Scotland and told them regarding lots of misdirected email it received, counting for lost logins. It offered to sell the domain name to the bank.

This was enough for the UDRP panel to order the valuable domain name transferred to the Bank of Scotland.