Case Number: D2018-0535
Complainant: Proeza, S.A.
Represented by: Arochi & Lindner
A Mexican holdings company, Proeza, S.A., has been found guilty of attempted Reverse Domain Name Hijacking in its attempt use the UDRP process to acquire the domain proeza.com. While the company does hold several trademarks in Mexico for the term, “proeza”, the domain owner responded by observing the company does business in the name of its multiple subsidiaries. The RDNH ruling was handed up by a three-member panel of the World Intellectual Property Organization on June 12, 2018.
Proeza, S.A., represented by Arochi & Lindner, asserted its 1990 and 1991 trademarks had existed for so long, that the name “Proeza” had become internationally recognized, a claim that was disputed by the WIPO panel. The Mexico company further claimed that the domain was registered with the specific intention of taking advantage of the trademark term, which was also emphatically disputed by the panelists, themselves, who noted that Proeza, S.A. deliberately excluded evidence of its own actions, which contradict such claims.
“The Panel finds that it was misleading for Complainant to omit all discussion of the Parties’ previous communications regarding the Domain Name,” the WIPO ruling reads.
The panelists noted that evidence provided by the respondent shows that Proeza, S.A. and its attorneys had a full knowledge of how the domain was being used, based on several communications between the parties. “In 2013, Complainant had a full picture of Respondent’s history with the Domain Name and his motivations in connection therewith.
“The Panel finds it misleading that Complainant omitted this information from the Complaint and aggravated the omission by alleging that Respondent had a “clear intent” to target Complainant’s PROEZA mark,” the panelists concluded.
Source: https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=D2018-0535