Legalupload.co.uk: WIPO refuses to order transfer of domain names such as tellshell.org that were critical of Shell
“The WIPO panel found that Shell clearly had rights in the Shell brand in 190 countries and the domain names were confusingly similar to Shell’s brand. However, Donovan had a legitimate interest in the names and had not registered them in bad faith as he was using them to exercise his right to free speech and criticise Shell.”
Posted Friday 21 October 2005
Shell, the multinational petrol business, has failed to persuade the World Intellectual Property Organisation to order the transfer of various Shell domain names to it under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy. The Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy provides a quick arbitration procedure for disputes over top level domain names such as ‘.com’ and ‘.org’. WIPO is one of the accredited arbitration bodies that can hear domain name disputes under that procedure.
