The domain GossipGirl.com dropped in February of this year and went to a drop auction where it eventually sold for and even $6,000.
Today a UDRP panel awarded the domain to the complainant Alloy Entertainment LLC the producer of the hit TV show GossipGirl.com
It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had the buyer put up a TMZ or Perez Hilton type of Gossip site but unfortunately it went to a parked page (according to Screenshots).
Although it did have any keyword in the ad copy on the parked page, the domain was clearly offered for sale and the images of are the nature where you could see the shows producers objecting to them.
The actually decision is not out yet but we will furnish a link once its actually published.
Many domainers play in the TM game thinking they will make there money back +++ until the UDRP comes.
This case stands as a cautionary tale that TM and other rights owners may not wait long enough for you to even begin to make your money back
This is why we don’t do parked pages. Just set-up a simple landing page and point all of your domains to it – a buyer will eventually emerge AND you won’t pay a 10% commission on the sale to one of the big brokerages.
Example of simple landing page: Together.TV
“Gossip Girl” is not descriptive or generic. Sorry, it’s not, no matter how badly someone in the comment section will try to defend it. Doesn’t matter if it’s a parked page, sale page, fan page/forum, etc. It’s the name of a very popular series that has been on TV for years. They should have gone to court and got $$$ damages.
@M …… not sure who’d defend that one.
Gossip Girl is not generic by any means.
UPDATE
The Case has been published
http://www.udrpsearch.com/wipo/d2012-0564
Michael,
Just to clarify, if I read this correctly, if the owner hadn’t had any ads on the landing page he would have been ok? I mean from the outset not after he linked the popular little girls programme to porn!
“but unfortunately it went to a parked page”
Actually, it initially went to a full-on hard core porn site. I would have filed a UDRP if I were a TM holder as well.
Back
I think they could have had a chance had they as I said in the post developed it into a gossip site