Berryhill Win Another UDRP — Schilling and
Frank Schilling, with help of John Berryhill, successfully defend domain name.
Frank Schilling’s Name Administration has won an arbitration case brought by a trampoline firm. Domain name attorney John Berryhill represented Schilling.
NAOP, LLC, which apparently manufactures trampolines under the JUMPRO brand, filed for arbitration. I can find little information regarding the firm, and jumpro.com is in use by a firm unrelated to the trampoline manufacturer.
The panel decided that the NAOP did not prove it had rights in the mark at the time the domain name was registered. It further stated that there was no evidence of bad faith since Schilling could not have known regarding the trademark when he registered the domain. The trademark was not approved until 2006, a couple years following the domain was registered.
Berryhill requested a finding of reverse domain name hijacking, but the panel declined and explained, “Given the virtual identity between the JUMPRO mark and the domain name, the Panel accepts that Complainant honestly believed its rights were being infringed.”
Schilling is known for owning a sizable portfolio of non-infringing generic domain names. This is the fourth UDRP at National Arbitration Forum that Name Administration has one this year. Previous wins include Timpano.com, xoft.com, and FoodEmporium.com.
