Data center firm tries to reverse hijack KIO.com

WIPO Panel admonishes firm and its counsel.

Sixsigma Networks Mexico, S.A., an operator of data centers in Mexico, has been found to have engaged in reverse domain name hijacking for the domain kio.com.

The firm inquired regarding buying the domain name last year. It didn’t hear back and subsequently filed the UDRP.

It’s a decent bet that a UDRP for a three letter domain will end in a reverse domain name hijacking decision, and that’s exactly what happened here.

The three-person World Intellectual Property Organization panel wrote:

In this case, the Complainant has provided no evidence that the Respondent deliberately targeted its KIO trademark and relies upon an inference drawn from the alleged notoriety of that mark. Still, in the view of the Panel, the Complainant knew or ought to have known that the term KIO was in widespread usage otherwise than to refer to the Complainant’s trademark and that there was no reasonable basis for any such inference to be drawn. The Panel also takes account of the fact that the Complainant brought this proceeding following a failed attempt in August 2022 to purchase the disputed domain name from the Respondent (which included no suggestion of wrongdoing on the Respondent’s part). The Panel also observes that, being legally represented, the Complainant is held to a higher standard than an unrepresented party to ensure that any proceedings under the UDRP are brought on proper grounds.

González Calvillo, S.C. represented SixSigma Networks. The domain owner, Dynamo.com, represented itself.