Will the launch of New gTLDs bring more UDRP complaints for .coms?

I noticed that a UDRP complaint was filed for the domain name AirtelGuru.com. Although this seems like the regular UDRP complaint, I am not sure that it is.

That is because with the introduction of new gTLDs, companies that notice their trademarks get registered in the new domains may also take a look at older .com also.

Companies that have their trademarks registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse get a notification when someone registers a New gTLD domain name that incorporates their trademark. So I am sure they are inclined to check if the corresponding .com domain is registered too.

The companies that have acted and have registered their marks with trademark clearinghouse are actively protecting their trademarks. Every trademark alert will be examined.

The domain name airtel.guru was registered on the 5th of February from someone in India. Yesterday the domain name airtelguru.com was hit with a UDRP complaint at WIPO.

The domain name airtelguru.com was registered in 2008 so I don’t think this is a coincidence.

So owners of .com (or any other gTLD) domains may be subject to more scrutiny by trademark holders as New gTLD domain names launch. Even if these domain name owners don’t register any new gTLD domain names. And even if the domain names they have registered can be used in a manner unrelated to the trademark.

So domain name owners should do what they should be doing anyway. Do their due diligence and make sure that their domain name content don’t infringe on any trademarks.

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About Konstantinos Zournas

I studied Computer Engineering and Computer Science in London, UK and I am now living in Athens, Greece. I went online in 1995, started coding in 1996 and began buying domain names and creating websites in 2000. I started the OnlineDomain.com blog in 2012.

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