Case Number: NAF 1819240
Complainant: Regenexbio, Inc.
Represented by: William R. Samuels & Scarinci Hollenbeck LLC
Regenxbio, Inc., which has also operated under other names during the past ten years, has been found guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking, by a panel of the National Arbitration Forum, after attempting to use the UDRP process to grab the domain name, regenxhealth.com, from a father-son urology clinic operating in Houston, Texas. Regenexbio, Inc. was represented by William R. Samuels of Scarinci Hollenbeck LLC, of New York, while the respondent, Marshall Stein, was represented by Karen B. Tripp, of Texas.
While the panel noted Regenxbio did hold valid trademarks and was also in the health industry, the three-member panel also found the clinic operators had legitimate rights to use their domain, which represents the name of their clinic, and that such use hardly constituted any type of trademark infringement or conferred an anti-competitive edge.
“While Complainant contends that Respondent registered the domain name for the purpose of disrupting the business of a competitor … such claim appears rather far-fetched,” the panelists wrote. “Respondent operates a men’s health medical facility. He is a licensed doctor. Complainant, on the other hand, is involved in biotech gene therapy research.
“While both parties may broadly be considered to be involved in medicine, they do not vie for the same customers or compete in any other way,” the panel concluded.
The RDNH ruling was handed up January 16, 2019.
Source: https://www.adrforum.com/DomainDecisions/1819240.htm