WIPO tackles first .eu ADR case

WIPO was appointed as a .eu and .ею Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provider on 1 June 2017. Since then, WIPO has administered nine .eu ADR cases, the first of which concerning the revocation of Instagram copycat, ‘lnstagram.eu’.

In that case, the complainant, Instagram LLC, asserted that the domain name, ‘lnstagram.eu’ could be confused with their registered trade names, as the first letter of the domain name is in fact an ‘L’, not an ‘i’, which deliberately created and caused confusion among Internet users. The complainant stated that the ‘lnstagram.eu’ registrant had no affiliation with Instagram LLC and was hence never authorized to license or use the Instagram trademark in any way, either as a domain name or otherwise. Moreover, the appointed panel considered ‘lnstagram.eu’ to be registered and used in bad faith, which ultimately led to the decision to revoke the domain name on 8 September 2017.

Of the nine complaints filed since the start of our partnership with WIPO, five have been successfully processed, leading to either domain name revocation or transferring to the complainant.

With both WIPO and the CAC by our side, we look forward to continuing to make the .eu and .ею community secure and trustworthy.

To learn more about the decision, visit the official case page.