To block transfer of Lotto domain names — Lawsuit filed

Man bought domain names for his lottery business but lost a UDRP to the soccer apparel firm Lotto.

A Canadian man has filed a lawsuit (pdf) to block the transfer of LottoStore.com and LottoWorks.com, which WIPO recently ordered to be transferred to soccer apparel firm Lotto Sport Italia in a UDRP.

Based on my reading of the lawsuit, it appears that a) the UDRP was not well defended and b) the Canadian man probably isn’t cybersquatting.

Plaintiff David Dent is a majority owner of Trimark Ltd., a Gibraltar firm in the lottery business. He purchased lottostore.com in September 2016 for $4820 and then purchased
lottoworks.com in December 2016 for $6500, as stated by the suit.

So he owns a lottery firm and paid end user prices to acquire two lotto related domain names late last year. Very shortly following acquiring the last one, he got hit with a UDRP from the soccer apparel firm.

Yet the UDRP response, filed by lawyer Steven Rinehart, apparently obfuscated when Dent actually purchased the domain names, merely noting that one of them was registered in 1998. The panel felt misled since the domains were just recently purchased.

A more plausible defense, in my opinion, would be to point out that the domain names were just recently purchased by a lotto firm and that the short ownership period is why the domains haven’t been developed yet.

Dent is asking the court for a finding of reverse domain name hijacking, tortious interference with a contract and is asking for declaratory relief under the Lanham Act. Lotto Sport will have to defend itself in Arizona District Court, where registrar GoDaddy is located.