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ARTICLE · 11 DECEMBER 2019

When "Sweet Water" Becomes Bitter

Hogan Lovells
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The panel found that the complainant had failed to prove that its notoriety had transcended its own field and reached Pakistan, where the respondent was based

GlobalIntellectual Property
David Taylor
David Taylor
Ying Lou
Ying Lou
  • The owner of various Colombian mixed/combined AGUADULCE marks sought the transfer of 'aguadulce.com ' under the UDRP
  • The panel found that the complainant had failed to prove that its notoriety had transcended its own field and reached Pakistan, where the respondent was based
  • Anyone could register the dictionary term 'aquadulce', unless it was established that such registration targeted one particular user of this term - which was not the case here

In Sociedad Puerto Industrial Aguadulce SA v Makrani (WIPO Case D2019-1378), a three-member panel has denied the transfer of a domain name consisting of the Spanish generic term 'agua dulce' ('sweet water' or 'fresh water' in English) under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) due to the lack of sufficient evidence supporting the targeting of the complainant's trademark.

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