In this UDRP case study video, I discuss a case under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) involving the domain name wwwcarvana.com — which is different than the URL www.carvana.com. In this case, as in many others, cybersquatters confuse Internet users by combining “www” with a domain name in a way that tricks some people into visiting an unintended website.
As I explain in the video, “www” is traditionally used as a third-level domain to indicate that a uniform resource locator (URL) identifies a site on the World Wide Web. But those three letters are not technically required; it’s just that many consumers expect to see them and often type them when entering a website address in a browser such as Google Chrome or Apple’s Safari.
In the Carvana case I discuss in this video, the cybersquatter registered the domain name “wwwcarvana.com,” which is identical to Carvana’s “carvana.com” domain name except that it includes the letters “www” as part of the second-level domain itself. Just to be clear: “wwwcarvana.com” looks like “www.carvana.com” — but, it is not the same thing.
Fortunately for Carvana, the UDRP panel found that the disputed domain name was confusingly similar to the CARVANA trademark and that it was registered and used in bad faith. Among other things, the decision says:
The Domain Name is likely to confuse Internet users trying to find the Complainant’s official website. Such confusion will inevitably result due to the incorporation of the Trade Mark as the most prominent element of the Domain Name with the prefix of “www” which is a typical ploy of cybersquatters, since all it takes is for an Internet user to inadvertently miss out the full stop between “www” and “carvana” when intending to type in the Complainant’s web address to arrive at the Website.
A trademark owner’s best approach is to be proactive and register these types of domain names before a cybersquatter does the same thing. But if it’s too late to do that, then the next best thing — to prevent customer fraud, to stop brand dilution, and to put an end to other types of damaging activity — is to consider filing a complaint under the UDRP.
