Finn.no AS of Oslo, Norway just lost a Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) on the the domain name Finn.sexy.
The domain name is owned by North Sound Names which is a company associated with Frank Schilling, who also owns Uniregistry and of course John Berryhill, Esq represented the domain holder.
This is the first URS case decided that involved North Sound Names and the 1st URS represented by John Berryhill.
North Sound Names is the company that was set up to register New gTLD’s of Uniregistry.
North Sound Names registered this domain on March 15th and the Complainant Submitted the URS on May 9, 2014
Complainant has established that it is the proprietor of the valid trademark FINN, registered in Norway, No. 192448 on August 27, 1998, in classes 35, 36, 38, 39, 41 and 42.
Respondent registered the domain name on April 15, 2014. It resolves to a website offering the domain name for sale and containing links entitled “First Namesâ€, Selfiesâ€, “Dietâ€, “Fitnessâ€, Social Networksâ€, Dating†and “Modelingâ€. The word “Finn” is a common name.
There is no evidence that Respondent registered the domain name otherwise than to benefit from its significance as a common name.
Although the domain name is for sale, there is no evidence that Respondent registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling it to Complainant or to a competitor of Complainant.
Although Respondent was notified of Complainant’s trademark as part of the registration process, the generic nature of the word Finn and the content of the website to which the domain name resolves militate against any finding that Respondent intended to take advantage of the trademark significance of that name.
DETERMINATION
After reviewing the parties’ submissions, the Examiner determines that the Complainant has NOT demonstrated all three elements of the URS by a standard of clear and convincing evidence; the Examiner hereby Orders the following domain name(s) be returned to the control of Respondent; finn.sexy
Alan L. Limbury
Examiner
Good decision and precedent. Congrats NSN and JB.
I have a retriever named ‘Finn” and he thinks he’s sexy. I guess I could call him Finny or Finnegan if there’s evidence of infringement. Finn has answered to this name just after I adopted him from a Pet Rescue org. No idea about the TM class for “man’s best friend”. 🙂
Steven, anyone who would want to honor a sexy retriever with his very own domain name, which could connect to Finn’s tumblr, Instagram feed, or even his Facebook page. I’m sure that if “Finn” is your dog, yourself, or the sexiest person in Finland, the good folks at DomainNameSales will be happy to chat with you about it.