ICA Blog

The Challenge of Properly Applying Telstra The key element of the well-known Telstra standard: “it is not possible to conceive of any plausible actual or contemplated active use of the domain name by the Respondent that would not be illegitimate”.  while appearing to be simple and intuitive is quite challenging to apply. It is an odd standard that deviates from the …

Complainants Must Establish Reputation as of Date of Domain Registration We often see Complainants making the mistake of proving their reputation as of the time of filing the Complaint, but that is inadequate. Rather, the material date is the date of registration since that is the point in time that we must evaluate whether the Complainant’s reputation was the reason …

Panel Takes the “Holistic Approach” to Oki Data As noted in UDRP Perspectives at 2.3, although the Oki Data test has consistently been applied since 2001, it is best used as a guide and adapted as necessary by Panels. In other words, it is not enshrined in stone, but rather can be a helpful yardstick by which to measure the …

Intentionality and Trademark Infringement Can a Respondent’s belief that a Complainant abandoned its trademark, combined with due diligence, vitiate a claim of bad faith registration? Yes, as the Panel found in this case. Here, the Respondent provided an apparently credible explanation of the reasons that it believed that it had the right to register and use the Domain Name. The …

Policy Requires That Bad Faith Must Target ‘Complainant, Specifically’, Not Unrelated Third Parties We sometimes see Respondent’s misapprehend what a “generic” or “descriptive” term is. Here, the Respondent argued that the Disputed Domain Name “consists of two generic terms, ‘cyber’ and ‘nautic’, however as the Panel pointed out, this “does not establish that the combined term, “cybernautic,” is generic or …