Indian publisher sought domain used by famed UK media company.
In a battle between centuries-old news organizations, The Times in London has won.
Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. publishes The Times of India, which began publishing in 1838.
It filed a cybersquatting dispute with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) against the domain TimesNow.com, which is owned by Times Media Limited. Times Media has published The Times in the UK since 1788.
The Indian company wanted the domain because it operates a website called TimesNow at TimesNowNews.com.
However, the publisher failed to show two necessary factors to win a cybersquatting dispute: that the registrant lacks rights or legitimate interests in the domain, and that it was registered in bad faith.
The three-person WIPO panel went beyond just denying the case; it determined (pdf) that the case was attempted reverse domain name hijacking:
The Complainant is professionally represented in this matter and, in the opinion of the Panel, knew or ought to have known that it could not succeed as to the second and third elements of the Policy for the reasons set out above. In particular:
– the Complainant was aware of the Respondent and its rights in the TIMES and THE TIMES marks, but omitted to mention this. The Complainant also knew (or should have easily found out) that the Disputed Domain Name predated its relevant TIMES NOW marks, and the impact on the Respondent’s rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Disputed Domain Name. Despite this, the Complainant alleged that there was a lack of any plausible interpretation for the registration of the Disputed Domain Name by the Respondent;
– the Complainant made frivolous claims about the Respondent’s alleged intention to extort money from the Complainant;
In these circumstances, the Panel finds that the Complaint has been brought in bad faith. Accordingly, the Panel finds that the Complainant has abused the administrative proceeding and engaged in reverse domain name hijacking.
Inttl Advocare represented Bennett, Coleman & Co., and Taylor Wessing LLP, UK represented Times Media Limited.
