AXA loses fight for AXA.org — Insurance giant

Firm provides the evidence that panel used to dismiss the dispute.

Insurance firm AXA has lost a cybersquatting complaint it brought against the domain name axa.org.

The owner of the domain name did not respond to the complaint, yet AXA itself provided the evidence necessary for the panel to reject the claim.

AXA provided evidence that a group called Advocates Across America previously used the domain name. AXA argued that the group was dissolved in 2016 following failing to file annual notes with the State of Arizona.

But to win a cybersquatting case under the UDRP, a complainant has to show the domain was registered in bad faith, not just used in bad faith. The evidence AXA submitted showed that the domain was almost certainly registered in good faith by an organization using AXA to mean “Advocates Across America”, not to take advantage of the insurance giant.

AXA made the argument that AXA wasn’t an acronym for the group despite the common use of ‘x’ to mean across. It also argued that the domain was registered to take advantage of the insurance firm. I can’t imagine a reason that a group that advocates for people with learning disabilities would want to trade off the goodwill of an insurance firm.

In fact, you could make a good argument that this is a case of reverse domain name hijacking:

1. AXA knew the domain was registered in good faith.
2. It made a bad claim regarding how AXA is not a reasonable acronym for Advocates Across America
3. It waited over 20 years to bring its claim against the domain, ostensibly since the organization recently dissolved