VeriSign transferred domain last week as result of court order.
In June 2010 a UDRP panel found in favor of the respondent for the domain name FirstQuote.com.
The owner, who lives in China, paid thousands of dollars for the domain and thousands to defend it in the UDRP.
But then in December 2010, the complainant decided to take the matter to court. Because the owner was in China, Aspen Holdings, Inc decided to file an en rem case against the domain name itself.
Aspen won the case in a default judgment shortly thereafter. The court entered an order in October 2011 demanding that the domain name be transferred to Aspen Holdings. The domain finally transferred Aspen Holdings last week.
The (previous) domain owner is obviously furious, and sent me a note about the case.
He said they weren’t able to file a response in time given their location and that the Virginia court wouldn’t accept electronic filings.
I can imagine that having to defend yourself in a foreign court over a domain dispute you already won once must be extremely frustrating. How much money do you sink into defending one domain name?
Yury says
Very unfortunate that companies are abusing the legal system to obtain valuable domain names at a fraction of the cost. I believe if the original FirstQuote.com domainer still decides to challenge it, a court would lift the default judgment given these circumstances and allow him more time.
Ben says
This is very strange…
Because, wherever domain owner lives, court should be there…
The owner, who lives in China, so China court make a decision only not the Virginia court!
Yury says
The jurisdiction lies where both parties reside. If the Respondent had lost the UDRP, he would have been able to file the action in China.
Andrew Allemann says
In this case jurisdiction was where VeriSign is located.
Unfortunate says
Very unfortunate that domainers are abusing the domain name system to obtain names that correspond to federally registered trademarks at $8 a pop. I believe that if the FirstQuote.com domainer decides to challenge it, he will have to answer for all of the other domain names he owns or has owned and lost which also corresponded to trademarks and he will regret not submitting to the default judgement levied against him.
Do some frickingresearch instead of crying everytime you see a decision that doesnt go the domainers way. This guy is a serial cybersquatter and should get zero respect from this or any other community.
Theo says
Not sure if it is the same Aspen holding i am looking at.
But if i am correct then Aspen holding got a trademark on first quote on may 31th 2011.
The domain is registered in 1997 and from what i see the owner who lost the domain name obtained firstquote.com in 2010.
Looks cheesy to me.
Poor Guy says
wwwwellsfargo.com
chevycaprice.com
lafitness.co
weebly.co
these guys over reaching too.
Karma is a bitch huh
DotCom says
Does that guy really think FirstQuote.com was bought for $8?
What an idiot, domain is obviously worth close to a hundred thousand. Not only that, but anyone in the insurance biz would tell you, “first quote” is used on nearly every insurance website in supposed violation of this generic “trademark”
Aspen holdings also sued for firstquote.org and firstquote.net and won those as well. They changed their name from something else to First Quote in 2010, and then actively started “protecting” their “brand.”
Mike says
but notice that only in China do people have the money to spend thousands purchasing and then defend for thousands, maybe more…. wealth is slipping out of the hands of US citizens so fast it isnt funny.