Flipkart, also known as Instakart Services Private Limited, was found to have attempted reverse domain name hijacking by a tribunal of the World Intellectual Property Organization.
The corporation, which operates the logistics company eKart, accused eKart.com of cybersquatting.
The eKart brand was used by Instakart in 2009 or later. In 1999, the domain name was registered.
The Complainant did not contest Ozguc Bayraktar’s statement to the tribunal that he registered the name in 1999. (Based on previous Whois, I am unable to confirm this; it appears that ownership changed at some point.)
The Respondent couldn’t have registered the site to target a nonexistent brand, so the timeframe doesn’t work for Instakart.
Panelist Steven A. Maier wrote:
The Panel considers this to be a clear case of attempted Reverse Domain Name Hijacking. The Complainant is represented by counsel who must be taken to have been aware that the Complaint could not succeed in circumstances where the disputed domain name was registered some ten years before the Complainant’s first use of any corresponding trademark. Despite the Complainant’s certificate “that the assertions in this Complainant are warranted under the Rules and under applicable law…” there is no basis upon which the Complainant could properly have asserted that the Respondent registered the disputed domain name to create a likelihood of confusion with its (then non-existent) trademarks, or otherwise to trade off its goodwill attaching to those trademarks.
We at ebharat, are on a mission to educate masses about internet, domain names and their potential.
