Firm uses UDRP to go following dead man’s domain name

French publication files publication to try to get domain name from deceased man.

Société Du Figaro S.A. of Paris, France, a news publication, has lost a UDRP it filed against a dead man.

The group filed the UDRP against the domain name figaro.tv.

The domain name is registered to Stefan Blumtritt of “Cut Firm” in Germany.

Société Du Figaro S.A. pointed out to the panel that the domain name owner apparently died last year. This was certainly helpful information for the World Intellectual Property Organization panelist, as otherwise he probably would have assumed that the domain owner simply decided not to respond to the complaint.

Given that the complainant knew the respondent was deceased, the complainant’s argument that “the Respondent holds the disputed domain name only in order to disturb the Complainant’s business” as well as his noted failure to respond to a cease & desist letter seems rather ill-placed.

Panelist Daniel Kraus noted that Figaro is a common male name in the Italian language, and thus the domain might well have been registered for its common meaning. He denied the claim on that basis.

This isn’t the first time a firm has used UDRP to try to snag a domain name from a someone who physically could not respond. In 2011, Avomex, Inc (producer of Wholly Guacamole) filed a complaint against WhollyGuacamole.com following first trying to convince the deceased domain owner’s widow and son to sell the domain name.