Case Number: D2019-2642
Complainant: Nalli Chinnasami Chetty
Represented by: DePenning & DePenning, India
A sole panelist of the World Intellectual Property Organization has found an India-based manufacturer and retailer of silk clothing and other clothing products guilty of attempted Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. The ruling was handed up against Nalli Chinnasami Chetty, which had filed its complaint for the domain, nalligroup.com, on October 29, 2019. The Chennai-based clothing manufacturer was represented by the 160-year old IP law firm of De Penning & De Penning. The domain owner is Canadian television producer Anthony Nalli, who operates Four Points Media Group. Mr. Nalli is also well known for his productions on U.S. and overseas television networks, including PBS and the Discovery Network. He also has an entry in the online encyclopedia, on Wikpedia.org.
The panelist, David H. Bernstein, came to his determination of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking quickly in the writing of his discussion and findings, making the statement outright, near the beginning of the section. He did so even though there was no formal response from the domain owner and, by extension, no request for a finding of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking.
However, Mr. Bernstein propounded upon his reasoning at length, making extensive note of the fact Mr. Nalli is not only a well-established media producer, but the fact the domain includes his own name and a generic term automatically conveys legitimate rights and interests in the domain.
“[T]he Complainant fails to address the obvious fact that the Respondent’s last name is ‘Nalli’,” Mr. Bernstein wrote.
“As such, Mr. Nalli plainly has rights in a domain name that combines his last name, Nalli, with the descriptive term ‘group’,” the panelists further wrote.
The RDNH ruling was handed up on December 18, 2019.
Source: https://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/search/text.jsp?case=D2019-2642