Robert Downey Jr. won the rights to the domain name RobertDowneyJr.actor in a one member UDRP panel handed down by the National Arbitration Forum.
Although the domain in question was a new gTLD Mr. Downey filed the Complainant as a UDRP
The registrant who lives in India, Shashank Agarwal, first said he was “publicly known by ‘Robert Downey Jr’ as a screen name in order to pursue his career in the Indian cinema more popularly known as ‘Bollywood’…Respondent purchased robertdowneyjr.actor… in order to publish the web portfolio” to gain exposure.
Respondent claims to have “no knowledge of the American Hollywood actor Mr. Robert Downey Junior never heard of the actor but then in a supplemental filing said he was a big fan of the actor.
Linda M. Byrne Panelist was not a big fan of the domain holder, who ordered the domain transferred.
The domain name resolved to a generic web page that is parked by GoDaddy.com, LLC and that hosts advertisements.
Respondent has not submitted any evidence to support the claim that he is commonly known as “ROBERT DOWNEY JR. or the robertdowneyjr.actor domain name.
In addition, Respondent has not submitted any evidence regarding the development of his “portfolio website.”
Respondent’s claim that he performs as an actor under the ROBERT DOWNEY JR. name is unsupported by the evidence, and the Panel therefore concludes that Respondent has not demonstrated rights or legitimate interests in robertdowneyjr.actor.
In view of the above, the Panel holds that Respondent’s use of the domain name to promote links to third-party websites is not a bona fide offering of goods or services or a legitimate noncommercial or fair use. Accordingly, the Panel holds that Respondent has failed to prove rights or legitimate interests pursuant to Policy ¶4(c)(ii).
In addition, Respondent states that his website’s “monetization was done by godaddy and [Respondent] has no part in placing advertisements or promotions.” However, this Panel concludes that Respondent cannot claim ignorance as to the presence of pay-per-click advertising by GoDaddy, because Respondent ought to be held accountable for his domain names, not a third-party domain name registrar.
