Firm ContractPod tries to reverse hijack leah.ai — Legal tech
Panelist states it’s a classic “Plan B” reverse domain name hijacking case.
A World Intellectual Property Organization panel has found ContractPod Technologies Ltd. guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a dispute over the domain name leah.ai.
The legal technology firm filed a complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), arguing that domain registrant Fred Ju registered the name in bad faith and was attempting to profit from ContractPod’s LEAH trademark, which it purchased in 2023.
Ju registered the domain on January 31, 2019. At the time, the mark ContractPod relies on was owned and used by a different firm, Embecta Corp., in connection with medical software. ContractPod later purchased the trademark from Embecta for its AI legal product.
Ju stated he registered the domain name based on his daughter’s name, Leah, with the intention of using it for AI-related projects she might pursue in the future. He submitted a copy of her passport to support this claim.
Panelist Alan L. Limbury found that Ju had legitimate rights or interests in the domain name and that the domain was not registered or used in bad faith. It also rejected ContractPod’s argument that Ju’s high asking price of over $1 million in response to an unsolicited purchase inquiry demonstrated bad faith.
Limbury also took issue with the way ContractPod presented its case, noting that the firm misrepresented its timeline of trademark rights by suggesting it purchased the LEAH mark in 2017. In reality, ContractPod did not acquire rights in the mark until 2023, well following Ju registered the domain name.
Calling the dispute a classic “Plan B” case, Limbury determined that ContractPod filed the complaint only following failing to buy the domain through negotiation. He concluded that the firm had abused the UDRP process and made a finding of reverse domain name hijacking.
Isabelle Jung Greenberg of CRGO Law represented ContractPod. The Respondent represented himself.
