Observe.com UDRP claims denied
WIPO panelist rejects cybersquatting claim against Observe.com.
Saas firm Observe, Inc. has failed to obtain the domain name Observe.com through a cybersquatting claim.
The firm filed a UDRP with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), but panelist Warwick Rothnie rejected the claim that it is a case of cybersquatting.
Warwick struggled to determine if Observe, Inc. has common law rights in the Observe mark. He didn’t make a definitive ruling on this since the case failed on the issue of registration and use in bad faith.
The ownership record of the domain is convoluted, but it appears that the current registrant and the one that owned the domain ahead of Observe, Inc’s first use of its purported trademark are under common ownership. This means the domain wasn’t registered in bad faith to target the Complainant.
Indeed, one would presume the domain was registered since of its value as a common English word.
Warwick stopped short of finding reverse domain name hijacking, noting that the connection between the current and previous registrant was not clear, and the domain has recently been used in a way that might be considered as targeting the Complainant.
