Lawsuit to Retain Control of BME.com — Ricks Files
Domain owner files lawsuit against BMEzine.com, LLC.
Perhaps filing a UDRP for a three character domain name isn’t as cheap as complainant BMEzine.com, LLC thought it would be. BMEzine.com, LLC won the domain BME.com at a WIPO arbitration, but respondent Gregory Ricks has filed a lawsuit against the firm to block the transfer. He is also seeking damages.
The lawsuit, which Reglike obtained and can be viewed here (pdf), states:
Plaintiff disputes the results of the arbitration and seeks in this action to permanently enjoin Bmezine from gaining control of the BME.COM domain pursuant to 15 U.S.C. §1114(2)(D)(v); requests that this Court declare that Ricks has legitimate interests in and to the rights to use the mark BME.COM and the domain name BME.COM pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §2201 and §2202; and to recover compensatory damages that have resulted from Bmezine’s actions.”
Furthermore, it claims trademark infringement by BMEzine.com:
This is also an action for federal and common law service mark infringement, common law tarnishment, bad faith interference with intellectual property rights and unfair competition arising out of Defendant’s infringement of Ricks’ common law rights to the mark BME.COM and Defendant’s bad faith attempts to interfere in Ricks intellectual property rights.
Ricks has turned the tables on BMEzine.com, alleging that BMEzine.com’s “pornographic” images of body art and piercings tarnishes the value of his common law rights for the mark BME.com.
By filing the lawsuit within 10 days of losing the arbitration case at WIPO, Ricks has frozen the transfer of the domain pending outcome of the lawsuit.
