On January 5, 2006 Traffic Web Holding B.V. filed an application for the Domain Name cork.eu under the Sunrise Rules. Their application was based on an expedite Benelux trademark registration, which was filed on December 23, 2005 and obtained on January 4, 2006, for the word “cork” under Class 3 for “bleaching agents”.
A few days later, on January 11, 2006, Cork City Council (who already have cork.ie) filed an application for the domain name cork.eu under the Sunrise Rules. The Complainant based its application upon on a prior right covered by Article 10 (3) of the Regulation N° 874/2004.
Traffic Web Holding B.V. obtained the registration of the Domain Name as they was the first applicant to submit a registration.
So, both parties had a claim to the domain, and the early bird caught the worm. Everything seems fair.
However the ADR Panel, after deliberation, decided that Traffic Web Holding B.V. used had the intention and the purpose to obstruct the registration by Complainant during the Sunrise period. Thus the ADR Panel concluded that they registered and used the Domain Name “in bad faith”, and thus must surrender the name.
I am pleased at the result and imagine that in time they will have to surrender other specific and generic domains that they registered.
The moral of the story, for “domain speculators” is if you are going to register domains you should create some website relevant to the name and not just park them, and the moral of the story, for cities is if you are going to register domains do it quickly and you can avoid lenghty cases.
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