The owner of the trademark for 1stQuote.com domains obtained via WIPO FirstQuote.net and FirstQuote.org by two lawsuits.
But has lost one third demand for domain FirstQuote.com (Case Aspen Holdings, Inc. v. Isaac Goldstein ).
The applicant was established in 1997, selling its products and services through a group of 7,500 insurance agencies, with about 100,000 customers in the United States. From January 2003 1STQUOTE use the mark, registered in the United States.
The defendant purchased the domain on the secondary market for $ 4,074 (February 24, 2010) and has been in parking since then. Some links lead to direct competition from the applicant. It argues that the key words "First Quote" are common and widely used in insurance and financial websites. They are descriptive.
There are 10 active brands in the U.S. for QUOTE FIRST. The domain was registered in 1997, six years before his mark.
The only panelist Brigitte Joppich said this fact was more probable than its opposite: that the applicant had acquired the domain because of its meaning and not because a third party had registered the trademark matching.
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