Reglikedomain industry desk

Is a reverse domain name hijacker — Walker Edison

Firm files dead-on-arrival cybersquatting dispute.

Furniture firm Walker Edison has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking by a National Arbitration Forum panelist.

The decision comes following Walker Edison Furniture Firm filed a cybersquatting complaint under UDRP against the domain name ForestGate.com. Walker Edison has a furniture brand called Forest Gate.

But the owner of the domain name ForestGate.com registered it in 1999, well ahead of Walker Edison started using the brand. It filed a trademark application just weeks ahead of filing the UDRP. It claimed common law rights, but even those potential rights postdated the domain registration.

In other words, the complaint was doomed to fail.

The fact that the UDRP was filed so soon following the trademark application makes me question the complainant representative’s (J. Dustin Howell of Workman Nydegger) understanding of UDRP.

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