To hijack GalaxyStore.com domain name — Samsung tries

Samsung files abusive cybersquatting complaint in an effort to get GalaxyStore.com domain name.

Samsung has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking over the domain name GalaxyStore.com.

The electronics firm changed the name of Galaxy Apps to Galaxy Store earlier this year and wanted the GalaxyStore.com domain name. Still, the owner of GalaxyStore.com registered the domain name in 2004, at least five years ahead of Samsung adopted the name Galaxy for its smartphones and tablets.

In other words, there’s no way the domain registrant registered the domain name with Samsung in mind. Nevertheless, Samsung filed a cybersquatting complaint under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) at Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre.

Since the domain registration pre-dated Samsung’s use of the Galaxy brand, the case was dead on arrival.

The domain owner’s counsel, Zak Muscovitch, warned Samsung’s counsel at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC IP Group regarding this critical fact and invited Samsung to withdraw the case. It didn’t, and the three-person UDRP panel found (pdf) Samsung to have filed the case in abuse of the policy, aka reverse domain name hijacking.