In episode number 7 of my YouTube masterclass on Domain Name Disputes, I discuss the "rights or legitimate interests" requirement under the second part of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy's (UDRP) three-part test.
Watch the video below or on the GigaLaw YouTube channel.
As I explain, this second part of the UDRP's test differs in an important way from the other two parts, because it requires a trademark owner to prove a negative. Specifically, that the opposing domain name registrant has no rights or legitimate interests in the domain name.
The UDRP itself describes three circumstances in which an opposing domain name registrant can demonstrate that it does have rights or legitimate interests:
“before any notice to [the domain name registrant] of the dispute, [its] use of, or demonstrable preparations to use, the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services”
the domain name registrant has “been commonly known by the domain name, even if you have acquired no trademark or service mark rights”
the domain name registrant is “making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name, without intent for commercial gain to misleadingly divert consumers or to tarnish the trademark or service mark at issue”
If a domain name registrant can demonstrate that it has rights or legitimate interests under any one of these three circumstances, then the domain name registrant will prevail on the second part of the UDRP’s three-part test, allowing the cybersquatter to keep the disputed domain name.
To watch previous episodes, visit “Domain Name Disputes: A Masterclass by Doug Isenberg.”
