Reglikedomain industry desk

Weighs in on Domain Broker Responses — UDRP Panel

Panel decision is good news for domain investors.

Complainants in UDRP cases often point to a domain owner’s willingness to sell and a price quote as proof of bad faith. But sometimes a broker responds to a domain name inquiry on behalf of the domain owner without consulting with the owner.

A recent ruling for MegaShoes.com brings good clarity to the issue.

The complainant had a weak case in general, but one of its claims was that the domain owner’s agent responded to a domain inquiry suggesting that $4500 would be a reasonable offer. The domain owner didn’t make a $4500 offer to the complainant; instead the broker merely suggested it as a good offering price.

Somewhat surprisingly the panel understood this distinction:

In the opinion of the Panel, the so-called offer to sell is nothing of the sort. It is not uncommon for a domain name site of the type operated by Respondent to be prefaced by a banner advertisement offering the domain name in question for sale. Anyone replying to this is automatically directed to a broker, such as in this case DomainDirect Inc., who will often reply specifying a price without referring the offer to the owner of the domain name. It would seem, from Respondent’s Additional Submission, when it denies any knowledge of any offer to purchase, that this is exactly what occurred on this occasion. The Panel therefore dismisses Complainant’s assertion that Respondent attempted to sell it the domain name.

This is a good case for domain investors to point to when this issue arises in the future.

The respondent was represented by domain attorney John Berryhill.

Also on the wire

Other reporting from the domain desk.

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