World Intellectual Property Organization panel made a decision concerning the complaint of the FIFA (Federation internationale de football association – FIFA). The matter of dispute was domain FIFA.net, registered by Winsum Wong of China. Football officials accused Wong of cybersquatting and demanded the transfer of the domain to the organization.
Theoretically speaking, Wong had a chance to defend his interests, because abbreviations of international organizations are not protected by any rules in the domain space. Moreover, the registrant hadn’t used domain FIFA.net, this is why it wasn’t an easy task to prove that it was registered with an illegal intent. However, Wong made it easier himself. First of all, he didn’t react to any of the FIFA’s complaints. Secondly, the investigation found that Wong had been accused of cybersquatting before. For example, he registered names like stationscasinos.com, homedepote.com and homededot.com.
As a result WIPO panel sided with the plaintiff, reports DomainWire. Domain FIFA.net has been transferred to the Federation internationale de football association.
