Fans are not very happy about the recent performance of FC Barcelona that ranks among one of the strongest teams in the world. It suffers regular defeats and fails to win the most prestigious trophies. However, its recent fiasco did not happen on the football pitch but is directly linked with fans.
The football club’s management filed a cyber-squatting challenge against the Culers.com domain with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Culers is a Catalan dictionary term for football supporters, and Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia. FC Barcelona’s fans are colloquially called “cules” (in Spanish language) or “culers” (in Catalan language). Although this words means “behinds,” there is nothing offensive about it because the nickname was fashioned at a time when Barcelona’s old stadium had no seats, railings or fences, and when passersby could watch the tense backs and behinds of fans watching the games.
WIPO panelist Reyes Campello Estebaranz admitted that the public could link the word “cules” and its Catalan equivalent with FC Barcelona, according to Domain Name Wire. But he noted that, at the moment of the domain’s registration in 2000, FC Barcelona had no registered trademarks using this word. Most importantly, the panelist saw no evidence of the fact that the domain had been registered or used for illegal purposes or to the detriment of the club’s legitimate interests, and this is an essential pre-condition for upholding the cyber-squatting challenge. The owner continues to use the domain, and Barcelona’s fans can now grieve over yet another defeat and complain about foul play on the part of football referees and WIPO panelists.
