Case Number: NAF 2125098
Complainant: Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
Represented by: Hunter D. Westfahl
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which famously took a case to the U.S. Supreme Court, has been hit with a ruling of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking in connection with its effort to force a transfer of the domain hobbylibby.com. Hobby Lobby relied solely upon its pre-existing trademark rights, which predate the registration of the domain in 2009. However, a single-member panel of the National Arbitration Forum held that the trademark, alone, does not deprive a respondent of its rights to register, acquire or hold a domain, even if it is identical or confusingly-similar to the trademark. There was no reply or filing from any respondent.
Alan L. Limbury, the panelist reviewing Hobby Lobby’s UDRP filing, found no evidence the domain was being used to compete with Hobby Lobby or that it was acquired, over 16 years ago, with the intention of selling it to Hobby Lobby.
Limbury’s ruling was handed up on December 12, 2024.
Source: https://www.adrforum.com/DomainDecisions/2125098.htm