Guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking — TrendyHair.es owner
WIPO panel finds GIGS United S.L. guilty of reverse domain name hijacking.
GIGS United S.L., the Barcelona firm that owns TrendyHair.es, has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking over the domain name TrendyHair.com.
The case was filed against SIE MANTIC, but it’s a little unclear as to who actually owns the domain and who responded to the case.
As stated by the complainant, it negotiated to buy the domain name from the respondent for 2,500 EUR on Sedo, only to have the domain owner back out of the deal. But as stated by the respondent, it never listed the domain for sale on Sedo and the alleged seller must have hacked the domain name to list it there.
The respondent was represented by the hosting firm that has been listed on the whois record as the technical contact since the domain was originally registered.
The domain was registered in 1999, and the respondent states it operates the site TrendyHair.nl and has a trademark on the term.
Panelist Brigitte Joppich found GIGS United guilty of reverse domain name hijacking on the grounds that the respondent registered the domain name well ahead of the complainant had any rights in the term “TrendyHair”.
Although the domain might have been registered well ahead of the complainant had rights, the whois record changing to a different owner and being shifted to Sedoparking prior to the complaint being filed may have thrown them off.
