SEATTLE — An arbitrator has sided with one of the nation's largest discount retailers — T.J. Maxx — in a classic typosquatting case.
At issue was the website TJMaxxx.com, which for eight years had existed as a parked page displaying links to third-party websites selling adult sex toys and novelties items, as well as links to porn sites.
Through those eight years, T.J. Maxx attorneys alleged, operators of TJMaxxx.com earned revenue for pay-per-click links.
TJ Maxx counsel, in their UDRP action, argued that TJMaxxx.com, with its extra "x," is confusingly similar to their T.J. Maxx's mark. They also said that TJMaxxx.com was registered long after the discount retailer with its 1,000 stores trademarked the mark. T.J. Maxx operates the domain TJMaxx.com for its retail operation.
The unidentified operators of TJMaxxx.com, named as respondents in the complaint, registered their site with privacy protection at BigRock Solutions Ltd. and never responded to the National Arbitration Forum over the UDRP action.
An arbitrator in the case decided last month, Charles K. McCotter Jr., ruled that the respondents engaged in bad faith registration by offering hyperlinks to adult-oriented businesses and websites.
As a result, McCotter ordered TJMaxxx.com transferred to the retailer.
Mc Cotter cited a 2004 UDRP decision, Google Inc. vs. Bassano, as a sturdy basis for his ruling.
That case held that the respondent’s use of the GoogleSex.info domain name to intentionally attract Internet users to a website featuring adult-oriented content constituted bad faith registration and use under UDRP policy.
