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WIPO domain disputes › RDNH findings › D2020-0591

D2020-0591: RDNH finding over springgate.com

On 14 May 2020, a WIPO panel found that Schoffstall Farm, LLC brought its complaint over springgate.com in bad faith, the finding known as reverse domain name hijacking (RDNH). The complaint was denied, so the registrant kept the name.

The domain name was registered on 26 February 1999, 21 years before the complaint was filed.

The record

WIPO caseD2020-0591
Domain namespringgate.com
ComplainantSchoffstall Farm, LLC
Decision date14 May 2020
Outcome (WIPO)Complaint denied
How the finding appearsfound in the panel's reasoning
PanelistsGardner, Nick J.
Maier, Steven A. (presiding)
Pibus, Christopher J.
PanelThree-member panel
Complainant representedYes
Domain registered26 February 1999
Complaint filed9 March 2020

The panel’s finding

For the foregoing reasons, the Complaint is denied.

The panel’s decision, D2020-0591

The order above only denies the complaint. The finding itself is made in the panel’s reasoning:

The Panel therefore finds that the Complainant was brought in bad faith and constitutes an abuse of the administrative proceeding.

The panel’s reasoning, D2020-0591

Quoted exactly from the decision. Read the full decision on WIPO for the reasons.

Read the decision on WIPO · WIPO case record

All RDNH findings · WIPO domain disputes

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How the RDNH archive is built

WIPO publishes every panel decision and a full-text search over them. This archive starts from that search for the wording a panel uses when it declares reverse domain name hijacking, reads each decision in full (older ones are web pages, newer ones PDFs converted to text), and keeps those where the panel itself says the complaint was brought in bad faith. A finding is marked declared in the operative decision when the final order says so, or found in the panel’s reasoning when only the reasoning does.

The reading is automatic and has been checked by hand on samples, but it is not exhaustive and not perfect: some findings may be missing, and a few listed cases may be borderline. A case is listed only when the panel’s own closing words can be quoted cleanly; decisions with an irregular layout, or not written in English, are held back. Every page links to the decision on WIPO, which is the authority. Dates, parties and panellists come from WIPO’s case records. Respondents are not named.

This is an information resource, not legal advice. A finding of RDNH is a panel’s conclusion about one complaint, not a statement about the company beyond that case.