Porsche.social URS to planned fan site — Porsche loses

Porsche.social is just a parked page, but its owners claim to be creating a free site for Porsche enthusiasts.

Car firm Porsche has lost a Uniform Rapid Suspension cybersquatting case it brought against the San Jose, California owner of Porsche.social.

Interactiv Corporation told the URS panel that it plans to use the domain name for a free community for Porsche car enthusiasts and will put a disclaimer on every webpage that it is not affiliated with or authorized by the car firm.

Thus, Panelist Karl V. Fink determined that “Complainant has not established by clear and convincing evidence that Registrant has no right or interest in the domain name and has not established that the domain was registered or is being used in bad faith.”

As of right now, I just see a parked page at the domain name.

I’ll admit to being a little surprised by this decision. Perhaps it hinged on the relatively short time the domain name had been registered and the owner’s intention to create a “free” site. Will that be monetized by advertising?

Can anyone register a brand name in a fresh TLD like .social and claim future plans to create a free community site?

Does a “free” service mean you are free to use a brand name in a domain name? Another URS panel, on appeal, ruled that offering a free service creates a question of legitimate use, and found for the respondent.

What happens if the domain is still parked months from now?

I suspect, at that point, Porsche could just file a UDRP.