National Arbitration Forum panelist Jeffrey M. Samuels ruled on a complaint brought by Tesla under the Uniform Domain Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP). The complaint was filed against the domain name TeslaShop.com, and it would seem that the outcome of the case could not be in any doubt. But everything turned out to be not so simple.
The specified domain hosts a Polish website that sells spare parts for Tesla cars. The welcome page on the home page says that the company that owns the site admires Tesla cars immensely, but at the same time is aware of the difficulties that their owners face, including due to the extreme high cost of spare parts. From this we can conclude that the company does not sell original, but not counterfeit spare parts, thus remaining within the legal framework. As for the Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution Policy, there is an important exception that Tesla's lawyers probably forgot about, but Arbitrator Samuels did not forget about.
The fact is that the rule on unfair use of brand names does not apply to companies that, within the framework of the law, provide services to products of these brands and provide parts and spare parts for them. Jeffrey M. Samuels held that the TeslaShop.com case falls within such an exception. In addition, the panelist noted that it is quite obvious to any reasonable visitor to the site that it is not a Tesla resource and is in no way trying to give the opposite impression. As a result, Tesla's complaint was left unsatisfied, Domain Name Wire reports.
