WIPO panelist says this isn’t a case of cybersquatting.
Shahryar Oveissi has been found guilty of reverse domain name hijacking in a dispute over three domain names.
Oveissi is the son of the former Shah of Iran’s Imperial Army, who was assassinated in Paris in 1984. He was raised in the United States and is involved in various entrepreneurial and philanthropic endeavors.
Michael Benjamin registered shahryaroveissi.net, shahryaroveissi.org, and oveissicrimefamily.com to create sites critical of Shahryar’s father and to allege that Shahryar inherited his fortune. Oveissi argued Benjamin was cybersquatting with these registrations.
The panel ruled that the Complainant did not show he has trademark rights in his name.
In finding reverse domain name hijacking, World Intellectual Property Organization panelist W. Scott Blackmer wrote:
The Panel finds that the Complainant brought the Complaint in bad faith, within the meaning of Rule 15(e), in an attempt at RDNH. The Complainant may feel that his reputation and that of his family have been unfairly impugned, but the UDRP is not the proper forum to resolve such issues. The Complainant should not have pursued a remedy designed only to protect trademark rights when he was unable to prove that he has such rights and that they were under attack.
