iWoman.com dispute filed in bad faith – Domain Name Wire

Panelist admonishes Complainant for filing unwinnable cybersquatting dispute.

A World Intellectual Property Organization panelist has found (pdf) Cathleen Trigg-Jones to have engaged in reverse domain name hijacking for the domain iWoman.com.

Trigg-Jones, a journalist and coach, has trademarks for iWoman on the U.S. Supplemental Register. These marks were registered after the domain owner acquired the domain.

It’s one of those rare cases in which the Complainant failed to prove any of the three requirements required to win a UDRP.

Panelist Assen Alexiev wrote:

The present case is notable in that the relevant circumstances do not support any of the three elements of the Policy. The Complainant is represented by counsel who should have appreciated that the Complaint could not succeed as to each of these three elements, given the Complainant’s lack of relevant trademark rights and the registration and use of the disputed domain name years before the Complainant started using its IWOMAN trademark. In this situation, the Complainant must have known that it could not succeed, but nevertheless filed the Complaint. This supports a finding that the Complaint was brought in bad faith.

The Vanel Law Firm, P.C. represented Triggs-Jones. The domain owner was not represented.

On a side note, the Complainant uses the domain name Cathleen.com. I sold this name for entirely too little in 2016.