Domain investor files lawsuit following losing $53k domain in UDRP

Runner-up bidder won a UDRP against winner of expired domain auction.

Domain name investment firm Mira Holdings has filed a lawsuit (pdf) to halt the transfer of the domain name NexusMutual.com.

The firm bought the domain for $53,499 in a DropCatch.com expired domain auction in 2023.

That was ahead of the crypto insurance firm Nexus Mutual Limited had a registered trademark for Nexus Mutual. Still, the insurance firm claimed common law rights predating the expired domain auction.

The majority of a World Intellectual Property Organization panel ruled (pdf) that the domain ought to be transferred. The majority pointed out that Mira Holdings has been a party to many UDRPs, and ought to have at least done a Google search for the name ahead of bidding. (The firm has done Google searches ahead of bidding on less expensive domains, as stated by a previous UDRP).

A search would likely have turned up the crypto firm.

One panelist disagreed with the decision, but the majority ordered the domain to be transferred.

Mira Holding’s lawsuit alleges that Nexus Mutual Limited was the runner-up in the DropCatch auction, bidding $52,500. The suit states that Nexus Mutual Limited offered to buy the domain for $25,000 last year, ahead of filing the UDRP.

Mira Holdings argues that Nexus Mutual Limited did not have common law rights in the name and claims this is a case of reverse domain name hijacking.

The firm has previously filed similar lawsuits following losing UDRPs.