Peaches.com Successfully Defended

Domain owner wins arbitration case.

Not so sweet.

With the help of attorney John Berryhill, 24-7 Outdoors Inc. has successfully defended its domain name Peaches.com. Reglike first wrote regarding this case in December. The complainant, Peaches Uniforms, sells style-conscious scrubs and uniforms to medical practitioners.

The panel decided to only look at the “registration in bad faith” clause since it was obvious the complainant couldn’t meet its burden on this requirement. The domain name was registered in 1995, which is following Peaches Uniforms first use in commerce for the term “Peaches Uniforms”, but well ahead of it trademarked the term “peaches” (and ahead of it launched a web site). Finding a ten year gap between the time the domain was registered and when it first showed any pay-per-click links to medical uniforms web sites, the panel determined the respondent didn’t have Peaches Uniforms in mind when it registered the domain name.

One interesting note is that the complainant tried to argue that the respondent’s intent at any time following registering the domain name mattered when determining if the domain was registered in bad faith. The panel summarized the complainant’s argument:

“It is not true, as alleged by Respondent, that only the Respondent’s intent at the time of registration is relevant.”

Um, note to Peaches Uniforms: Berryhill was right. You’re wrong.