The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has reviewed Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s complaint over the domain name LeanIn.com. The Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation filed the dispute under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
Lean In is the title of an extremely popular book by Sheryl Sandberg that has sold millions of copies in many languages. Interestingly, the Sheryl Sandberg & Dave Goldberg Family Foundation used to be called LeanIn.Org LLC. Sandberg also holds the rights to the domain LeanIn.org, while the owner of the domain LeanIn.com is entrepreneur Hecham Ghazal. The outcome of the dispute between one of the world’s richest and most influential women and an unknown small-time businessman would seem to have been decided in advance. But things turned out in a different way.
According to Domain Name Wire, representatives of Sheryl Sandberg and her organization tried to prove that Ghazal acquired the rights to the domain LeanIn.com in 2015 after the book Lean In became a worldwide bestseller. Meanwhile Hecham Ghazal provided compelling evidence that he had bought the domain in 2010. By that time, Sandberg already owned the domain LeanIn.org but had not published her book yet. Moreover, Ghazal himself already owned the small company LeanIn Inc., which was later dissolved. The facts were enough for panelist John Swinson to dismiss Sheryl Sandberg’s complaint. Hecham Ghazal retained the rights to the domain LeanIn.com.
