Arbitration Panel Punts on All.com

All.com domain dispute denied by WIPO panel; forgery claims too much to handle.

A three member WIPO panel has denied a complaint for the domain name All.com, saying the case is outside of UDRP’s scope.

The case involves an alleged sale of the domain name, to which the “buyer” produced documents showing the sale and transfer of money and the “seller” stated he knows nothing regarding.

The complainant purchased the domain name in 2005 when it was registered at GoDaddy. He subsequently obtained a Mexican trademark on it. Then in early 2008 the domain was transferred to a different registrar and the contact information changed to All Ltd Kovalski Selena as registrant and Kovalski Selena (respondent) as Administrative, Technical and Billing Contact. All the contact addresses were shown as “123 South Biscayne Blv 112, Miami Florida 33235, US”. A courier seeking to deliver a copy of the complaint noted that this was an incorrect and inadequate address.

That’s when the case gets interesting.

The respondent, represented by Traverse Legal, claimed that she financed the domain purchase originally and the complainant had agreed to sell it to her later for $80,000. The Respondent gave evidence in the form of correspondence in 2005 under which the seller agreed to transfer to her for $80,000, of which $40,000 was stated to have been paid in 2005. The document provided:

“Immediately upon delivery of Full Payment, Seller will take any actions that may be necessary or desirable to protect and perfect Purchaser’s title to the Property, counting but not limited to, authorizing the change of registered ownership of the Domain Name with InterNic or other authorized entity.”

The respondent stated she paid the balance in January 2008.

The complainant alleged it was a forgery, and hired handwriting experts to provide opinions.

This is one case you can expect to head to the court of law.