A three-member panel of the National Arbitration Forum unanimously denied the Complaint of Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) over the domain name SSX.com. (Click here for the decision). There was no dispute that EA owned a trademark in SSX. The Panel found, however, that EA had failed to “establish[] a prima facie case in support of its arguments that Respondent lacks rights and legitimate interests under Policy ¶ 4(a)(ii).” Importantly, the panel held that, “[t]he buying and selling of generic domain names is a bona fide offering of goods under Policy ¶ 4(c)(i). ” The Panel also declined to find that the brief appearance of pay-per-click links to video games on a parked page, located at www.ssx.com, negated the registrant’s legitimate rights to the domain name. Even though the Panel did not need to address the issue of bad faith, it chose to, finding that: “Respondent has shown that it is a generic domain name buyer and seller. Respondent purchased the disputed domain name as part of a portfolio of generic domain names. This is a legitimate use of the disputed domain name, and does not show that Respondent registered or used the
This is a great decision for those who invest in generic and descriptive domain names as a business. It represents a clear limitation on the rights of trademark holders in words and letters that are common or generic.
