Read this UDRP ahead of registering Monte Carlo domain names

Group waits for gambling use ahead of filing claims.

Société des bains de mer de Monaco has lost a UDRP it filed against the domain names MonteCarlo.biz and MonteCarlo.ws.

This is an interesting case. The complainant is primarily owned by the government of Monaco. It has won previous UDRPs related to gambling and Monte Carlo.

In the UDRP, the complainant stated that it monitors domain names with “Monte Carlo” in them. It doesn’t claim exclusive used to the term Monte Carlo, but as soon as the domain names are used for gambling purposes, it pounces.

In this case, it claims that the domain names briefly forwarded to a gambling site. Since it was a forward, the complainant just included a printout of the site it was forwarded to. This wasn’t enough to convince the panel that the domain name was registered in bad faith.

Sometimes a geographic domain name can also be a trademark. If you own domain names with Monte Carlo in them, keep a close eye on your parking keywords.