airfrancesucks cancelled

Air France heeft het geding gewonnen over het domein airfrancesucks.com. Volgens het WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center is de naam te verwarrend en maakt deze inbreuk op het merkenrecht. In dit geval vinden panelleden niet dat sucks in een domeinaam voor iedereen duidelijk aangeeft dat de houder van de domeinnaam niet gelieerd, maar, au contraire, gebrouilleerd is met de van zuigen beschuldigde merkhouder.

"The Panel is fully aware that there is a split among the UDRP decisions regarding whether a “-sucks” domain name is confusingly similar to the trademark to which it is appended. The majority of the decisions have found confusing similarity. In a minority of decisions, and in some dissenting opinions, Panelists have deemed a “-sucks” addition to a well-known trademark to be an obvious indication that the domain name is not affiliated with that trademark owner. This Panel, however, concurs with the notion that every case must be assessed on its own merits, and the Panel agrees with the remarks by the Complainant, and which has also been stated in previous decisions under the UDRP, that far from all international customers are familiar with the pejorative nature of the term “sucks”, and that a large proportion of internet users therefore are likely to be confused by “-sucks” domain names. This Panel finds that the airfrancesucks.com, domain name is confusingly similar to the established international trademark AIR FRANCE." Uitspraak hier.