Dates question in a UDRP — An interesting

What if you registered a domain long ago, let it expire, and then registered it again?

The date you first registered a domain name is a critical factor in a UDRP.

Generally speaking, if your registration predates the complainant’s rights in a term, then the complainant can’t win a UDRP. That’s since it’s impossible that you registered the domain name in bad faith…unless you’re psychic.

Some complainants have argued that the renewal of a domain name can be in bad faith. Some outlying panelists have bought this argument.

Dates in a just-decided case for proquidity.com bring up another interesting question: what if you registered a domain a long time ago, let it expire, and then registered it again?

If the complainant’s rights in the matching trademark were gained following the original registration but ahead of the fresh one, did the rights predate the registration?

The question is begged but not answered in the proquidity.com dispute. The re-registration of the domain name still predates the complainant’s rights, but just barely.

Common sense suggests that a panelist, in a case in which this question does need to be answered, would consider the earlier registration as evidence in the question of “registered and used in bad faith”. Of course, the circumstances of the expiration and reason for re-registration would require examination.