Case Number: CAC-UDRP-107041
Complainant: European Union Intellectual Property Office
Represented by: Rudolf Bicek Ph.D.
The European Union Intellectual Property Office, known commonly as the EUIPO, has been found guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking by the Czech Arbitration Court after attempting to use the UDRP process to force the transfer of the domain epta-agencies.com. The EUIPO, which has trademarks for its own name, as well as for the abbreviation, stated the domain’s registrant, who did not file a response to the UDRP, was attempting to use the domain to confuse visitors into thinking it was an official agency of the EUIPO. The complaint provided screen shots of the website on the domain, which stated the name of the business as the European Patent and Trademark Agency; hence, the acronym for this company, “epta”, was made part of the domain name.
However, the sole panelist for the CAC, the Honorable Neil Brown, rejected that argument, particularly in view of the fact the domain name, itself, was registered before the EUIPO acquired its own trademark rights.
A ruling of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking was handed up against the EUIPO on December 10, 2024.
Source: https://udrp.adr.eu/decisions/detail?id=675aaf89c468fe92c8069491