An avid fan of Pat Benatar has successfully defended a domain
name action brought by the management company of the 80s rocker.
The panel found that the fan's interest in the name was
non-commercial, and that nothing he said was disparaging of
Benatar.
Massachusetts resident Glyn Jacobs has been a fan of the
leather-clad rocker since the early 80s. Benatar (real name Pat
Andrzejewski) became as well known for hits like "Hit me with your
best shot" and "Love is a battlefield" as she did for her low-cut
tops, heels and hair.
2001 White Castle Way, Inc, the company that acts on behalf of
Pat Benatar, has a site at benatar.com, registered since 1996. It
objected to Jacobs' 1998 registration for patbenatar.com, which he
runs as a fan site. It complained that his links to sellers of her
music and videos would confuse the public, making people think that
his site was affiliated with its "official" site.
However, the WIPO panellist found that Jacobs had legitimate
rights in the name, even if White Castle Way did have the
registered trade mark for Pat Benatar.
