Playboy Enterprises International, Inc v ewca.org [2006] DRS 3409 (14 April 2006)

Playboy Enterprises International, Inc v ewca.org [2006] DRS 3409 (14 April 2006)

The complainant has established rights in the PLAYBOY mark and the domain name is confusingly similar due to a minor misspelling. The respondent's registration and use of the domain name constitutes abusive registration as it takes unfair advantage of and is unfairly detrimental to the complainant's rights, including by typo-squatting and diverting customers.

Citation
[2006] DRS 3409
Parties
Complainant: Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.; Respondent: ewca.org
Jurisdiction
United Kingdom
Judgment Date
14 April 2006
Procedural Posture
Nominet UK Domain Dispute / Expert Decision
Outcome
Domain name to be transferred to complainant
Legal Topics
Trade Marks, Passing Off, Typo Squatting, Abusive Registration
Intellectual Property Domain Name Disputes Trade Marks Passing Off Typo Squatting Abusive Registration

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Parties

Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.

Complainant

ewca.org

Respondent

Procedural Posture

Nominet UK Domain Dispute / Expert Decision

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the complainant has rights in a name or mark identical or similar to the domain name
  2. 2 Whether the domain name in the hands of the respondent is an abusive registration

Ratio Decidendi

The complainant has established rights in the PLAYBOY mark and the domain name is confusingly similar due to a minor misspelling. The respondent's registration and use of the domain name constitutes abusive registration as it takes unfair advantage of and is unfairly detrimental to the complainant's rights, including by typo-squatting and diverting customers.

Court Disposition

Domain name to be transferred to complainant

Orders

  • Transfer of domain name playboyaccesories.co.uk to Playboy Enterprises International, Inc.