Panelists of the World Intellectual Property Organization passed their verdict on the naturals.com domain name case. Indian company Naturals managing a large chain of beauty salons filed a complaint under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). Predictably, the complaint was overruled, Domain Name Wire reports. A Korean owner registered the naturals.com domain in 2001, and appears to have been in control for the past 18 years. Naturals went online several years later by registering the naturals.in domain.
For this reason alone, the prospect of the complaint looked bleak, indeed. Moreover, the Indian company failed to cite any evidence of the fact that naturals.com could have been registered or used for illegal purposes or to the detriment of its beauty salons. And, finally, no one can claim exclusive rights to use the word “naturals” that remains highly popular all over the world. But Naturals seems to have scored a major victory because its actions were not seen as an attempt at reverse domain name hijacking. And the initial registrar continues to hold sway over naturals.com.
