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Computer technology company Oracle has failed to suspend a domain name registered by a US citizen.
The company was defeated in a Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) dispute surrounding the supercluster.space web address yesterday, March 1. The decision was published today.
Oracle claimed in the dispute that the respondent was using a domain name that was confusingly similar to its trademark for ‘Supercluster’, which the company registered in 2013. It added that the domain was registered in bad faith and used for commercial gain.
However, in the URS examiner Darryl Wilson determined that Andres Conteris, the respondent, was using the domain name for a writing project at a recognised educational institution, which has not been named.
It was also found that the domain was not used for the purpose of resale or offering goods, and wasn’t used in bad faith.
According to Wilson, “the complainant’s mark is fanciful and distinct in regards to computers but is merely descriptive regarding astronomy and cosmology; superclusters are found in space and have been part of the common vernacular relative to space discussion since the early 20th century.
“The complainant’s assertions that its business is worldwide and therefore the registrant must have registered the .space domain name in recognition of the scope of complainant’s business is logically inconsistent,” he added.
Wilson continued: “Its business may be worldwide but it is not out of this world. Procurement of a trademark for a common term does not preclude others from using the term in its common manner.”
Oracle, URS, supercluster.space, Supercluster, Andres Conteris, trademark, bad faith, resale, domain names
