Walgreens Needs Pain Killers Following UDRP Decision

Panelist rules against drugstore.

Drug store chain Walgreen might need some Advil following reading a recent decision handed down by National Arbitration Forum.

A single member panel ruled that Indian firm Walgreens Realty International can keep the domain names walgreenstravels.com and walgreensholidays.com.

At the time Walgreen filed the complaint there were merely parked pages at the domain names. The respondent created simple web sites on the domains following receiving the complaint.

The panelist found that the domain names are confusingly similar to the Walgreens mark and that the respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain names. The respondent argued that it hired 50 people to work for its tourism business, but the panelist stated the respondent had not provided proof of its activities and supposedly well known name in India.

At this point in the complaint it looked like a home run for Walgreen. But the panelist was unimpressed with the evidence it provided that the domain name was registered in bad faith.

I was kind of surprised by this conclusion following reading the first part of the case, but of course I don’t have all of the documentation. It seems that Walgreen would have needed to show the respondent tried to sell the domain name, had a history of cybersquatting, or that the respondent profited from the domain in order to seal the victory.

Whether this loss is the lawyer’s fault or not, I’m sure Walgreen isn’t happy.