Well here is something you don’t see everyday.
The domain name imod.com, which is owned by Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM) has been hit with a UDRP.
The UDRP complaint was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
The domain name imod.com is forwarding to Qualcomm.com/products/mirasol which is advertising another product of Qualcomm called Mirasol.
The Complainant is listed as “American Franchise Marketing Limited”.
The only thing I could find on Google about an American Franchise Marketing Limited is an inactive company listed in the UK.
The domain imod.com has been owned by Qualcomm since at least 2006.
There are least 5 live trademarks in the US for “imod” but none of them appear to be owned by the Complainant
Qualcomm made two unsuccessful attempts to trademark IMOD Once in 2002, TM Serial#76389733, again in 2006 TM Serial#78854257, both for electronic color displays. Why the applications were abandoned, who knows?
Why search the USPTO for a mark claimed by a company in the UK?
Application number 005126561
(270)Application language es
(220)Application date 2006-06-09
Second language en
Trade mark office EUIPO – EUIPO
(190)Registration office EM
Receiving office number E60197873
(151)Registration date 2009-07-17
Receiving office date 2006-06-09
(141)Expiry date 2026-06-09
(550)Trade mark type Word
(551)Kind of mark Individual
(511)Nice classification 25
Current trade mark status Registered
Status date 2009-08-03
Opposition period start date 2006-11-27
Opposition period end date 2007-02-27
(511)Nice class number 25
List of goods and services Vestidos, calzados, sombrererÃa.
Organization name American Franchise Marketing Limited
Legal form Private Limited Company
——
It looks like Qualcomm bought the domain name in 2006, which is well prior to the complainant’s EU registration, and it is also apparent from international filings that Qualcomm was developing display systems to be called “IMOD”. The Complainant itself was formed in 2014, and bought the trademark registration from an individual in Spain who was the original applicant.