WTF? Acorn.tv lost in UDRP.

Hold on tight to your generic .tv domains!

Sometimes I read UDRP decisions and just start shaking my head.

That’s the case with Acorn.tv.

Keep in mind that UDRP was created for clear cut cases of cybersquatting. Acorn.tv is not a clear cut case of cybersquatting and ought to have remained with the owner.

Acorn Media Group, Inc, which filed the complaint, makes home video products. That apparently means that anything with “acorn” and the .tv extension belongs to it.

Check out what panelist Beatrice Onica Jarka has to say regarding the confusing similarity between this domain AcornMedia:

Complainant contends that Respondent’s acorn.tv domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant’s ACORNMEDIA mark. The Panel finds that the only differences between the mark and the disputed domain name are the deletion of the term “media” from the mark and the addition of the country-code top-level domain (“ccTLD”) “.tv.”

I’m sorry, but that’s a big difference.

Nevermind that the domain owner has spent a lot of money developing his plan for the site.

Could there be some confusion between Acorn.tv and Acorn Media Group? Absolutely. But to the extent that’s a problem, it’s outside the scope of UDRP.

Update: Nat Cohen also has some good analysis of the case.