Registrant had a creative response to cybersquatting claim — Citi .ai

He offered to provide evidence of his intended use under an NDA.

The registrant of citi .ai had a rather creative defense to a cybersquatting claim brought by Citigroup Inc., but the panelist didn’t bite.

The giant financial firm filed a cybersquatting claim against Quoc Bui. Bui didn’t file a formal response but sent an email to the panel explaining his registration.

Bui claimed he registered the domain as an acronym for Carbon Innovations and Trading Initiative and stated he’d provide documentary evidence to prove his intentions if Citigroup signed an NDA. His informal response didn’t include the standard affirmation that his response was accurate.

He also claimed that listing the domain for sale on Sedo, “was part of standard domain management practices, intended to explore potential partnerships or opportunities while I developed my project plans.”

Hmm.

When a CSC representative reached out regarding buying the domain, he offered to sell it for $100,000.

In his response, he also stated he was open to an amicable resolution…that compensated him.

As you can imagine, the panelist sided with CITI.