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ARTICLE · 22 JULY 2021

20[2]1: A Spase.com UDRP Odyssey

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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A rare case of UDRP complaints filed against a domain name challenged in prior UDRP proceedings offers important lessons about establishing a domain registrant's bad faith, as well as the availability of rehearings under the Policy.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Jonathan Uffelman
Jonathan Uffelman
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A rare case of UDRP complaints filed against a domain name challenged in prior UDRP proceedings offers important lessons about establishing a domain registrant's bad faith, as well as the availability of rehearings under the Policy.

Complainant Sahil Gupta owns and operates a business named Spase, Inc. that converts photographs into 3D models, and claims common-law rights in the SPASE trademark dating to 2019. Gupta filed a series of unsuccessful UDRP complaints against the spase.com domain, which was created on February 3, 2005.

The World Intellectual Property Organization ("WIPO") UDRP

In the fall of 2020, Gupta filed a UDRP complaint at WIPO against the spase.com domain, asserting bad-faith registration and use. As evidence of bad faith, Gupta pointed to the domain's use for a pay-per-click website. The WIPO Panel denied the complaint because respondent Mrs. Jello LLC had been using the domain for fourteen years before Gupta launched his business. Because the

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