Ultimate Search Inc. owns a portfolio of domain names
incorporating common words, generic terms and useful phrases. Its
portal site at pwc.com provides links to third party “PWC sites” –
mainly sites selling “personal water craft” such as jet skis.
A panel of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
indicated that, while Ultimate Search’s services at the domain name
may be open to criticism, nothing in the rules applicable to domain
name disputes prohibited this type of domain name use. Accordingly,
it considered that Ultimate Search had rights or legitimate
interests in the name.
In considering whether there was bad faith, the panel disagreed
with the accountancy giant that it was proved by the mere
registration of pwc.com. As evidence of an “inherent lack of
distinctiveness” in the name, it accepted that the letters “could
be attributable to the Public Work Center, Personal Water Craft,
Pratt & Whitney Canada, and no doubt to many other identifiable
people or matters.”
The complaint from PwC was dismissed, leaving the firm the
option of taking the dispute before a court or making an offer to
purchase the domain name.
