Case Number: NAF 1846645
Complainant: National Overspray Service, LLC
Represented by: Evan Stone
A single-member panel of the National Arbitration Forum has found a Texas company guilty of attempted reverse domain name hijacking in a case involving two competitors. The ruling was handed up July 2 against National Overspray Removal, LLC, which had sought a transfer of the domain nationaloversprayremovalservice.com. The domain is being used by a competitor to National Overspray Removal, Jeff Suggs, who runs his own overspray removal service. Suggs registered the domain in 2010, and he has been using the domain for his overspray business since 2011.
The sole NAF panelist in the decision, Steven M. Levy, Esq., elected to issue his ruling, despite the fact National Overspray Removal is seeking an injunction in U.S. District Court to block Suggs from using his business’ domain. Levy cited a lack of documentation about the pending litigation as his primary reason for proceeding with the UDRP case.
National Overspray Removal argued that the domain is a clear infringement upon its trademark for the phrase, “national overspray removal”. However, that trademark was only issued in March 2019, nearly nine full years after Mr. Suggs’ registration of the domain, even though National Overspray Removal, LLC claimed it had been using the phrase in commerce since June 2010. Mr. Levy noted that the domain, itself, had been registered one month earlier, in May.
Both parties were represented by counsel.
Source: https://www.adrforum.com/DomainDecisions/1846645.htm