Company tried to take two ‘lotto’ domain names away from Canadian man.
Italian sportswear maker tried to get ‘lotto’ domain names from online gaming professional.
A Canadian man who registered LottoStore.com and LottoWorks.com has prevailed in a legal dispute with Lotto Sport Italia, with the court granting his motion for summary judgment (pdf).
The judge ruled that David Dent can keep the two domain names, and the judge entered judgment in favor of Dent on his reverse domain name hijacking claim.
Lotto Sport Italia S.p.A. filed a UDRP with World Intellectual Property Organization in 2016, shortly after Dent acquired the two domain names from third parties for over $11,000. Dent said he registered the domain names for online gaming, which is his background. Lotto Sport, on the other hand, is a sportswear manufacturer with no business relating to gaming.
But his UDRP defense seemed to be poorly argued and he lost. He subsequently filed a lawsuit in U.S. court.
The court ruled that Dent’s registration of the domains did not violate the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).
Among other things, the court considered the original registration dates of the domains as the pertinent dates rather than the Dent’s acquisition of the domains in 2016. UDRP panelists consider the date a registrant acquires a domain as the date of registration; under ACPA, courts tend to look at the original registration date.
Dent will now file for attorneys’ fees and liability for reverse domain name hijacking.
He was represented by Jeff Johnson of Schmeiser Olsen & Watts with the help of John Berryhill. Berryhill suffered a heart attack during the case, and Berryhill told Domain Name Wire that Jeff “took the ball and ran it 80 yards to the touchdown.”
Marc Randazza represented Lotto Sport.
Post link: Lotto Sport Italia tried reverse domain name hijacking, court rules
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Author: Andrew Allemann