Villalobos UDRP Attack on casoavicola.com Fails at WIPO

I. UDRP Proceeding Before WIPO

Decision

On June 7, 2023, Avícola Villalobos, S.A. and CMI IP Holding filed a complaint with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center under the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP), seeking transfer of the domain name casoavicola.com. The domain had been registered on October 20, 2022, and resolved to a website publishing information about publicly available litigation involving the complainants.

The complainants' arguments. Avícola Villalobos, S.A. alleged that the domain was confusingly similar to its registered trade name AVICOLA VILLALOBOS AV Y DISEÑO, registered with the Industrial Property Registry of Guatemala since 1979. Both complainants contended that the respondent lacked rights or legitimate interests in the domain and had registered and used it in bad faith to damage the complainants' reputation and business. They further alleged that the website used, without authorization, the registered trademarks POLLO CAMPERO, DON POLLO, ALIANSA, and MOLINOS MODERNOS, owned by CMI IP Holding.

The respondent's defense. The respondent denied confusing similarity, arguing that the word "avícola" is a generic Spanish term for "poultry" referring to the broader industry, not exclusively to the complainants. The respondent maintained that the use of the domain constituted nominative fair use, as the website was limited to compiling and publishing public court rulings without value judgments, without commercial purpose, and without any intent to sell or transfer the domain.

The panel's decision. Sole panelist Luca Barbero issued the decision on August 9, 2023. On the first UDRP element (confusing similarity), the panel observed that the complainants had not provided sufficient evidence of standalone use of the sign AVICOLA as a distinctive identifier, and that the most distinctive element of their trade name was "Villalobos," not "avícola." The panel noted that the domain was composed of two dictionary words ("caso" and "avicola") not exclusively referable to the complainants.

On rights or legitimate interests and bad faith (second and third elements), the panel found that the respondent's use of the domain constituted legitimate noncommercial or fair use under the Policy, considering: (i) the composition of the domain using generic dictionary terms, (ii) the website content focused on providing information about litigation that actually occurred, and (iii) the absence of evidence that the respondent had used the domain as a pretext for commercial gain. The panel also determined that the domain's composition did not falsely suggest affiliation with the complainants.

The complaint was denied in its entirety.

The WIPO decision establishes that the publication of public judicial information through casoavicola.com constitutes a legitimate exercise protected under the UDRP, rejecting the complainants' attempt to use the domain name dispute resolution system as a censorship mechanism.