That’s what arbitrators said after they rejected a domain name registrant's argument that the term "suck" in the address Dellcomputerssuck.com didn’t infringe on the computer maker’s trademark.
A three-member panel last month ordered the transfer of the domain to Round Rock, Texas-based Dell Inc. after it found that the domain name pointed to a web-based computer sales operation, not a site hosting criticism of Dell's products.
The panel said the Edward Ziejka's use of the domain name was primarily to direct potential consumers to a site offering products and services that competed directly with Dell and not protected commentary of the trademark owner's business.
Ziejka owns Old Bridge, N.J.-based Innervision Web Solutions, a company that sells and repairs computers and also offers web-page design.
Even though the website also contained material that could be considered noncommercial commentary, Ziejka’s claim that he was making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the domain name on a protest site was "untenable," jurists wrote.
Ziejka knew, or should have known, that consumer deception and confusion would follow. "This factual situation constitutes bad faith registration," the panel said.
After filing the complaint, Dell learned that Ziejka also had registered other domains containing Dell's trademarks, including Dudedellsucks.com and Mydellsucks.com.
Other legal cases have held that the addition of the word "sucks" to another's mark eliminates the possibility of confusion. But the panel noted that this view is not uniformly shared by courts nationwide.
Arbitrators wrote that the resolution of this issue required an examination of the purpose of the web site — was it commercial, exploiting the goodwill of the original trademark, or noncommercial, directing protected commentary at the trademark owner's business?
ICANN's Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy requires that parties resolve squabbles through third-party alternative dispute resolution.
The case is Dell Inc. vs. Innervision Web Solutions, National Arbitration Forum, May 23.
