WIPO Orders Transfer of XPole.com

GENEVA — WIPO mediators have decided to strip ownership from the domain name holder of XPole.com, ruling U.K.-based Vertical Leisure Ltd. should be transferred the name because it owns the "XPole" trademark in several countries.

Vertical Leisure has manufactured, marketed and distributed a dance pole kit called XPole since 2004, generating revenue in excess of $1.8 million by the beginning of 2010.

The company also owns several trademark registrations associated with the names XPole and X-Pole in countries around the world, including the  U.K., Northern Ireland, Australia, the People’s Republic of China, the E.U. and the U.S. It also owns some domains using the Xpole name including XPole.co.uk and X-Pole.com.au

But the one domain it hadn't acquired was XPole.com.

Vertical Leisure started to look closely at XPole.com after company execs noticed that the site redirected to another domain, DancePoleKit.com, which offers for sale various adult and erotic products, including a variety of dance poles that compete with the company's products.

Herts, U.K.-based Vertical Leisure, as a result, took their case to the Internet's chief arbiter of domain names, the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, seeking a transfer of the domain name.

The owner of XPole.com, WIPO said in its ruling made public Monday, is Jeongyong (Gregory) Cho of Seoul, who doesn't own any trademark registrations for the XPole names.

WIPO arbitrators in their ruling against Cho said that in September he offered to sell XPole.com to Vertical Leisure for $23,500, a move that represented bad faith because he had apparently purchased it earlier in 2010.

"[WIPO] finds that this offer constitutes a circumstance indicating that [Cho] registered or acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting, or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to [Vertical Leisure] or to a competitor ..., the mediators said. "In the panel’s view, this behavior evidences bad faith." 

Mediators also said that the "only credible explanation for the current use of the domain name is to redirect Internet users to the DancePoleKit.com website is that [Cho] is seeking to take advantage of the similarity between the domain name and complainant’s website to draw Internet users to that site for commercial advantage." 

The panel also asked whether the domain name is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark. 

"The answer is that it is," mediators said. "The domain name consists, first of all, of the entirety of the trademark. The domain name is identical to complainant’s XPole trademark when the .com TLD is discounted." 

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Strike 3 Holdings Sues Meta for Pirating Vixen Media Group Content to Train AI

Vixen Media Group owner Strike 3 Holdings filed suit in federal court this week, accusing Facebook parent company Meta of copyright infringement and alleging that Meta has extensively pirated VMG content to train its artificial intelligence models.

Full Circle Debuts New 'Cleo Feather' Vibe

Pleasure brand Full Circle has introduced its new Cleo Feather Tickler vibrator.

Pjur Launches 'Toy' Line in North America

Pjur has announced its Toy series of wellness products will be available for purchase in the U.S. starting in September.

Orion Expands Cottelli 'Costumes' Line

Orion Wholesale has introduced two new outfits from its Cottelli Costumes line.

Harry Styles' Lifestyle Brand Enters Sexual Wellness Space With 'Pleasing Yourself' Vibe, Lube

Pleasing, the lifestyle brand founded by Harry Styles, has launched its first sexual wellness product line, Pleasing Yourself, featuring a double-sided vibrator and a silicone lubricant.

Tenga Names Kyrie Hara Sales Lead

Japanese pleasure brand Tenga has appointed Kyrie Hara as its new sales lead for Tenga USA.

Electric Novelties Expands 'Together' Collection

Electric Novelties has introduced four new items from its Together collection.

Pineapple Support, Streamate to Host 'Navigating Grief and Loss' Support Group

Pineapple Support and Streamate are hosting a free online support group to help performers cope with grief and loss.

Friday is Final AV Compliance Deadline in UK

Friday, July 25 marks U.K. media regulator Ofcom’s deadline for user-to-user services such as tube, cam and fan sites to implement its requisite “highly effective age assurance” measures for preventing minors from viewing adult content.

Motorbunny Debuts 'Grip' Stroker Attachment

Motorbunny has introduced its Grip stroker sleeve attachment for its sex machines.

Show More