AI firm tries reverse domain name hijacking

Firm fails to show trademark rights in cybersquatting dispute.

An AI firm has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a UDRP dispute over the domain neubird .com.

NeuBird, Inc. uses the domain name neubird.ai.

While it did not provide evidence of this, it stated that it previously owned the matching .com domain that is at dispute. It stated that it let the domain expire by accident, at which point the Respondent bought it. (NameBio records show the domain sold in a GoDaddy auction for $378 last October.)

A Chinese firm purchased the domain when it expired, and now uses it for an adult products site. That’s obviously a bit embarrassing to the AI firm.

Still, NeuBird did not convince the panel of trademark rights in NeuBird. It relied on a pending trademark registration and some media links, two of which were invalid.

The parties apparently previously communicated via a broker, but the record is confusing regarding who the broker was working for and what those communications were.

In finding reverse domain name hijacking, panelist Eugene I. Low stated the Complainant failed to provide supporting evidence for its assertions. He also stated the case “smells of the Plan B scenario where Complainant is resorting to a contrived UDRP following unsuccessful attempts at purchasing the disputed domain name.”

Goodwin Procter LLP represented the Complainant.