Maker’s cybersquatting claims crash again — Cessna airplane

The firm lost more cases against a firm providing products related to its airplanes.

Textron Innovations Inc., the maker of airplanes and airplane parts counting Cessna and Beechcraft, continues to lose cybersquatting cases involving the Oki Data precedent.

Oki Data was a case that established an idea of nominative fair use in domain names, at least as far as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is concerned. It carved out an exception for resellers and service providers that use a trademark in their domain name to offer services related to that brand.

Last year, Textron was found to have tried to reverse hijack names used by an aircraft inspection firm that used Beech in its domains. It also lost a case against a pilot who helps move Cessna planes and uses CessnaFerryPilot.com.

The latest case involved cessna150150 .com, a site that sells modified parts for Cessna airplanes.

Under the Oki Data Test, registration and use of such a domain name is legitimate if four factors all favor the respondent:

1. Respondent must actually be offering the goods or services at issue.

2. Respondent must use the site to sell only the trademarked goods; otherwise, it could be using the trademark to bait Internet users and then switch them to other goods.

3. Respondent’s web site must accurately disclose the registrant’s relationship with the trademark owner; it may not, for example, falsely suggest that it is the trademark owner, or that the website is the official site, if it is not.

4. Respondent must not try to corner the market in all domain names, thus depriving the trademark owner of reflecting its own mark in a domain name.

In this case, Textron argued that the parts being sold were modified Textron parts, so they were no longer true Textron parts. It also noted there was no disclaimer on the site.

The panelist, Michael A. Albert, stated the Oki Data Test ought to be applied holistically. It noted that the Respondent added disclaimers to its website following receiving the dispute.

The decision is consistent with UDRP panels not ordering the transfer of domains that are used for active businesses, even if there might be a trademark dispute.

In another case, Textron lost a UDRP against KingAirAcademy.com.

Pastrick Law LLC represented Textron Innovations in both cases.