Iconic ChipWich.com domain name — Nestle retains

Firm that trademarks old names filed cybersquatting complaint against ChipWich.com.

It’s not often that you see a big corporation on the receiving end of a UDRP. But that was the case with a just-decided case involving the domain name ChipWich.com, which is owned by Nestle.

The history of ChipWich is quite interesting, too. It was the name of an ice cream sandwich using two chocolate chip cookies back in the early 1980s. The firm struggled, and Nestle bought the brand in 2007.

Nestle abandoned its U.S. trademark for ChipWich following that. That’s where the complainant comes in.

Jeff Kaplan runs a firm called Retrobrands, which trademarks old brands that have abandoned their U.S. trademarks. Retrobrands got a stylized trademark for ChipWich back in 2011, then waited until 2016 to go following the ChipWich.com domain name.

There were two problems with Kaplan’s case.

First, Nestle still has rights or legitimate interests in the domain name. It still has non-U.S. trademarks for ChipWich.

Second, although the panel didn’t consider this issue, Nestle obviously didn’t register the domain name in bad faith.