Watch out for Protest Sites!
Wouldn't it be awful is someone set up at "you suck" site? Apparently they can get away with it, according to New York lawyer Martin H. Samson of Phillips Nizer. In his e-newsletter he writes:
Respondent Permitted To Continue Operating Protest Site At Home Depot Sucks.com, Homer TLC, Inc. v. Green People, Claim Number FA0508000550345 (NAF October 25, 2005).
In this domain name dispute resolved in accordance with the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy ("UDRP") the Panel refused to direct Respondent Green People to transfer the domain name Home Depot Sucks.com, at which Respondent operated a "protest site," to Complainant, owner of the famous "Home Depot" trademark. Rejecting the majority view, the Panel found that the disputed domain was neither identical nor confusingly similar to Complainant's mark because it included the pejorative term "sucks" in addition to Complainant's trademark. The Panel further held that Respondent had a legitimate interest in this domain, which had not been registered in bad faith, because Respondent had used the domain for seven years as the home of a web site critical of Home Depot. The Panel accordingly found that Complainant had failed to establish its entitlement to relief under the UDRP, and denied its complaint.
