Trips Up Over Domain Name — Runway Magazine

Fashion magazine loses domain name dispute.

Runway Magazine has a domain name issue.

The print publication uses the domain name RunwayBeauty.com for its online presence. It also has RunwayMagazine.us. It also registered RunwayMagazine.info/.biz, but neither of those are ideal for a web site. Adding to the complexity, the book and subsequent movie The Devil Wears Prada featured a magazine called Runway magazine. As a result, a lot of traffic is flowing to RunwayMagazine.com.

The domain name RunwayMagazine.com was registered back in 1999 by a Canadian man. How to get its hands on it? The magazine decided to file for domain name arbitration under UDRP for RunwayMagazine.com and the .net and .org versions. Fortunately for the domain’s rightful owner, Runway Magazine tripped up on the runway.

The complainant claimed its business started in 1997, but it didn’t file for a trademark for Runway Magazine until 2008. Its stated first use was in 2002, and first use in commerce in 2007. The date discrepancy didn’t sit well with the panel, which ruled the domain name wasn’t registered in bad faith.

Read the decision here.