The Hindu Business Line : M&M wins cybersquatting case at WIPO

NEW DELHI: Conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has won a cybersquatting case at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) against a US-based person, who was using the name 'Mahindra' in an internet domain.

Zach Segal was using the domain name 'mahindraforum.com' about which the Indian conglomerate contended that the name is confusingly similar to its 'Mahindra' trade mark and Florida based person has no rights or legitimate interests.

The Geneva-based WIPO, a part of the United Nations, has asked Segal to transfer disputed internet site to M&M. The ruling came after M&M filed a complaint before the UN agency on July 6 this year.

WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Centre found the domain name was chosen and employed precisely for its potential commercial value in misleading internet users familiar with the complainant's well-known and arbitrary Mahindra marks.

Cybersquatting is an illegal activity of buying and officially recording an address on the internet that is the name of an existing company or a well-known person, with the intention of selling it to the owner in order to make money.

As per details available with WIPO, a specialised agency for developing a balanced and accessible international system in the field of intellectual property rights, the domain name was registered by Panamanian company on February 28 last year.

“After the decision, I hope soon the domain name will be transferred to M&M” Nikhilesh Panchal, Partner, Khaitan & Co, which represented the M&M in the case, told PTI from Mumbai. - PTI

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