Tradeshow firm sues Citigroup over domain name

Firm that lost UDRP seeks to block transfer and claims reverse domain name hijacking.

Tradeshow exhibit firm Creative CitiGroup Inc. has filed a lawsuit (pdf) against banking giant Citigroup in an effort to keep its domain name CreativeCitigroup.com.

Creative CitiGroup states it has been in business since 2008 and registered the domain name back then. In June 2012, Citigroup filed a UDRP against the domain name. Creative CitiGroup didn’t respond to the UDRP and the panel ordered the domain name transferred.

Creative CitiGroup’s lawsuit seeks declaratory judgment of non-infrignement and a penalty for reverse domain name hijacking. By filing the lawsuit, the domain name won’t be transferred pending the outcome of the case.

I have to admit, I don’t think using “Citigroup” in the firm’s name was a smart move. Interestingly, the whois shows the registrant for the domain name is actually Creative Citygroup Inc. (with a ‘y’). CreativeCityGroup.com is right now available for registration, and it was available for registration when CreativeCitiGroup.com was registered in 2008. That makes the name choice even more baffling.