Spanish fashion firm tries to scalp Scalpers.com

Firm tries to get domain through UDRP following failing to buy it.

A Spanish fashion firm has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking following trying to obtain the domain name Scalpers.com in a UDRP.

Scalpers Fashion, S.L. filed a cybersquatting complaint against the name with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). The firm faced an insurmountable obstacle: the owner of scalpers.com registered it ahead of Scalpers Fashion had trademark rights, and the domain is a common English term.

The fashion firm tried to buy the domain name but wasn’t happy with the six-figure asking price.

The three-member WIPO panel listed four reasons the case was considered reverse domain name hijacking:

1. the disputed domain name was registered by the Respondent long ahead of the Complainant obtained relevant rights in the Trade Mark;

2. the Complainant’s legal representatives have unreasonably ignored established UDRP panel positions set out in WIPO Overview 3.0;

3. the Complaint was filed following two unsuccessful attempts to purchase the disputed domain name, the first initiated by the Complainant in August 2017, and the second by the Complainant’s legal representatives in June 2019; and

4. the Respondent’s legal representatives wrote to the Complainant’s legal representatives following the filing of the Complaint, on December 16, 2019, pointing out that, in light of the undisputed facts, a finding of bad faith registration and use was impossible, and inviting the Complainant to withdraw the Complaint.

Scalpers Fashion was represented by CASAS ASIN. The domain name owner was represented by Zak Muscovitch.

Scalpers.com by Reglike on Scribd