Trump tries to get MaraLago.com through cybersquatting claim with World Intellectual Property Organization.
Donald Trump’s organization has lost a second cybersquatting dispute against a Mar-a-Lago-related domain name.
Last year, the company lost a case filed with World Intellectual Property Organization against the domain name mar-a-lago.com.
In that case, the person who registered the domain name claimed he registered it at his mother’s suggestion after three family pets died. “Mar” was a dog named short after the Respondent’s first name, Marq. “A” represented “Alfred,” a duck that frequented the pond behind their home, named after Alfred Hitchcock. “Lago” was a nickname for “Lag”, a slow cat the family had rescued.
The same person registered the hyphenless version of the domain, maralago.com, but no longer owns it. So Trump filed a cybersquatting claim against that domain, which is now owned by VPN.com domain broker Michael Gargiulo.
Gargiulo argued that the wording “maralago” is descriptive, being comprised of dictionary terms that translate into “sea to lake” in several languages.
The panel determined that Trump’s organization couldn’t overcome Gargiulo’s arguments about the common meaning of the domain:
The Policy is not designed to adjudicate all types of disputes that relate in any way to domain names. Boku, Inc. v. Phuc To, WIPO Case No. D2023-1338. The Panel does not have the benefit of cross-examination of witnesses, disclosure of documents held by the parties, or the other instruments that are typically available to assist a court to resolve certain kinds of disputes. Id. Many of the Complainant’s assertions, through no fault of the Complainant, are conclusory.
The panel said that Trump might have better luck in the courts where cross examination is available. Trump certainly has a lot of experience in court lately.
Post link: Trump loses another Mar-a-Lago domain name dispute
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