Arbitration Center of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland, ruled in the case FGUP ITAR-TASS against the owner of TASS.COM domain. The outcome of the case was not evident, because domain TASS.COM was registered by a US citizen in 1993, whereas trademarks TASS was registered in 1996-1998 and only in Russia.
However, lawyer Anton Sergo that represented FGUP ITAR-TASS managed to prove that TASS brand was widely used and got international fame way before the domain name TASS.COM was registered. As a result WIPO arbitrators decided that all the criteria needed to transfer the domain to the applicant were there. According to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), transferred domain name should meet the following criteria: the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or in which the complainant has rights; the registrant does not have any rights or legitimate interests in the domain name; the domain name has been registered and the domain name is being used in "bad faith".
The ruling is published on the WIPO webpage and entered into force, domain TASS.COM has been transferred to FGUP ITAR-TASS.
