Case Number: D2022-0043
Complainant: Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller
Represented by: Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller
The San Francisco-based law firm of Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller has been found guilty of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking after using the UDRP process in an attempt to transfer the domain bartko.com from its owner, Jan Bartko, who registered the domain in 1998. The firm argued Ms. Bartko had no rights in the name, that the phrase “BARTKO” had common-law trademark protections, as the firm has been in business for 40 years, and the company argued they were compelled to use another domain, which they claimed made it difficult for clients to find them online. However, a single-member panel of the World Intellectual Property Organization found the arguments made by Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller to be “incongruous” with facts and “egregious misstatements”. The panelist, Mr. W. Scott Blackmer, handed up his ruling on March 17, 2022.
Source: https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/pdf/2022/d2022-0043.pdf