The Australian business registered the domain name in April
1998, one year after incorporation as Spirit Airlines. One year
previously, the US company applied for a US trade mark for Spirit
Airlines, having traded under the name since 1992. The Australian
company had a business plan for entry into the airline market as
Spirit Airlines, but it took no action. In 1999, the US company
demanded the domain name, claiming trade mark infringement; this
led to the offer by the Australian company to transfer the name for
$200,000.
In accordance with the dispute rules, the US company had to show
that:
- it had rights in a trade or service mark that was identical or
confusingly similar to the disputed domain name;
- the Australian company had no rights or legitimate interest in
respect of the disputed domain name; and
- the disputed domain name has been registered and is being used
in bad faith.
The panel concluded that since the Australian company had been
incorporated under the name Spirit Airlines in March 1997 and had
commissioned a corporate plan for an airline service, this was
sufficient evidence of the company’s intention to offer airline
services under a name that corresponded to the domain name.
Despite the Australian company never using the domain name and
offering it for sale to the US company at a price considerably
higher than the cost of registration, and renewing its registration
of the domain name in April 2000 after it had abandoned its airline
plans, the sole WIPO panellist said that there was no evidence to
suggest that it had not still intended to use the domain name for
legitimate purposes at the time of renewal. Accordingly, the US
company lost its case.
