A Uniform Domain Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) action has been successfully filed over the domain name oxforddictionary.com.
The action was launched back in July of this year by the Oxford University Press of Oxford in an effort to claim the URL. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center has ruled in its favor.
According to WIPO, the complainant owns “many trademark registrations around the world for the mark Oxford,” while it has used the mark Oxford Dictionary since 1884.
Before any action was taken, the domain name brought people to a website that provided links to a third-party site offering goods and services in competition with the complainant.
Therefore, the panel ruled that respondent “must have been aware of the complainant’s trademark rights in Oxford and Oxford Dictionary when it/he registered the disputed domain name.”
They also stated the owner had failed to demonstrate a bona fide need for the disputed domain name and so oxforddictionary.com is to be transferred to the complainant.