Marine firm tries grave robbing a domain through UDRP

Firm thought the domain registrant was deceased when it filed UDRP.

A three-person Czech Arbitration Court UDRP panel has denied a cybersquatting complaint against the domain name gabler.com, with one panelist ruling that the case was reverse domain name hijacking.

Gabler Maschinenbau GmbH, a German marine technology firm, filed the dispute.

Ahead of filing the dispute, the firm submitted an offer on Sedo and tried to contact the owner.

Through its own research, it believed the owner was a man with the last name Gabler who was deceased. In its complaint, it stated that it researched who it believed owned the domain and found that he died in 2015.

Even following receiving the registrar verification that stated that the domain was owned by someone else, it filed its amended complaint with the statements “the respondent is presumably deceased and “the deceased person is the current domain owner”.

The real domain owner is domain investor Stanley Pace, who purchased the domain in an expired domain auction in 2016.

Although Gabler Maschinenbau might have trademark rights dating to its founding in 1962, it tried to rely on registered trademarks obtained following Pace purchased the domain.

The panel found in Pace’s favor, noting that people may invest in domains, counting common surnames such as Gabler.

The Complainant even admitted that “There is no information available as to whether the domain was registered in bad faith,” but stated that it was being used in bad faith. A domain must be registered in bad faith in order to win a UDRP.

Panelist Igor Motsnyi went a step further, stating this was a case of reverse domain name hijacking. He stated nine reasons, counting that the filing was a “Plan B” following failing to acquire the domain. He noted, “…the Complainant filed this complaint in the belief that the registrant is a deceased person who clearly registered the disputed domain name in good faith.”

Dr. Jasper Prigge LL.M. represented Gabler Maschinenbau, and John Berryhill represented Pace.