Gambling firm fails for THIRD time to get circus.com

Court rules in favor of circus.com owner.

Picture of a circus ringmaster in a red coat standing on a chair, with a hand outstretched and the word circus.com in yellow letters

Online gambling firm Circus Belgium SA has failed for a third time to get the domain name circus.com.

First, it tried to obtain the valuable domain name through a UDRP in 2016. It failed and was found to have engaged in reverse domain name hijacking. A number of years later, the firm filed a case in Liege Business Court in Liege, Belgium (“Tribunal de l’entreprise de Liege”). But that court was unmoved by Circus Belgium’s claims and ruled in favor of Circus.com owner Online Guru Inc.

Circus Belgium appealed and just lost that appeal in a decision published today..

The court determined (translated from French using Google Translate):

The use of the word “Circus” to designate a website relating to activities related to the circus, being purely descriptive, cannot be considered abusive.

CIRCUS does not establish that ONLINE GURU would misuse its rights.

Circus Belgium must pay €5,300 in costs and fees.

Attorney Bart Lieben represented Online Guru in the lawsuit. John Berryhill represented the firm in the 2016 UDRP defense.

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