V-Guard Industries’ UDRP got denied, domain to stay with the Korean owner

V-Guard Industries Ltd, a major electrical appliances manufacturer in India claimed its stake on the domain VGuard.com through a UDRP complaint. The UDRP claim was denied yesterday by the WIPO panelist W. Scott Blackmer.

V-Guard Industries Limited claimed that its mark is famous as the company was formed in 1977 and has since used its mark extensively in marketing and other associated activities. The company operates from the domain vguard.in, and filed a complaint via the UDRP process. UDRP complaint is a process wherein companies claim ownership on a domain through the use of their existing trademarks.

The domain was initially registered in 2004 by Taesong Chong of Busan, Republic of Korea, who was a party in the decision. It was came to be known that the domain owner never offered to sell the domain to the company nor the company at any point of time tried to buy the domain name. The domain was parked at Sedo by the domain owner, who during the proceedings denied any knowledge about the India based company.

You can read the complete decision here.