Anthony M. Verna III, Esq., of Verna Law, P.C. announces the victory in Yellow Lark International, Inc. d/b/a Business Heroine v. Angel Bernacchi, Angel Quintana, Inc. Case No. D2015-1406 in the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Domain Name Disputes

The complainant, Yellow Lark International, claimed that its federal trademark registration barred Ms. Bernacchi and Angel Quintana, Inc., the respondents, from owning businessheroine.com.

The case revolved around Yellow Lark’s improper filing of the case to begin with, as the dispute never began with the domain name to begin with.

In any domain name dispute there are three elements that the Complainant must satisfy with respect to capturing a domain name:

(i)         the Domain Name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and

(ii)        Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the Domain Name; and

(iii)       the Domain Name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

In this situation, the Complainant could not demonstrate that Ms. Bernacchi and Angel Quintana, Inc., did not have any rights or legitimate interests in respect to the domain name, as it was registered in furtherance of a business proposition before the Complainant’s trademark rights developed.

Ms. Bernacchi and Angel Quintana, Inc., are able to keep their domain name, businessheroine.com.

Verna Law, P.C. was founded by Anthony M. Verna III, Esq., who has been practicing law since 2004 and focuses its law practice on trademark law, domain name disputes, copyright law, and advertising/promotion law.

For any questions, please call 914-908-6757 or send an e-mail to anthony@vernalaw.com.

For the text of the entire decision, click here:  http://vernalaw.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Decision-D2015-1406.doc.

Prior results do not guarantee future success.