The WIPO Case of William P. Thomas, III and Carolyn Thomas Walters vs. Robert Auxier, BTM LLC (Case No. D2020-1055)

In the WIPO domain name dispute case D2020-1055, William P. Thomas, III and Carolyn Thomas Walters, the children of Bill Thomas, designer of the “Cheetah” race car, contested the domain name . The respondent, Robert Auxier of BTM LLC, had been producing replicas of the Cheetah car under an agreement with Bill Thomas until Thomas’s death in 2009, after which legal disputes arose.

The complainants, holding trademarks in the name “Bill Thomas Cheetah,” argued that the domain name was identical to their trademark and that the respondent had no rights or legitimate interests in it, and was using it in bad faith. The respondent, however, maintained continuous ownership of the domain name since 2007, using it for promoting Cheetah replicas and sharing information about the original Cheetah race car.

The panel decided against the complainants, noting that while there were arguments for the respondent’s current bad faith use, the complaint failed to establish bad faith registration in 2007. Additionally, the panel did not find this case to be an instance of reverse domain name hijacking.

Source: WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2020-1055

In the WIPO domain name dispute case D2020-1055, William P. Thomas, III and Carolyn Thomas Walters, the children of Bill Thomas, designer of the “Cheetah” race car, contested the domain name . The respondent, Robert Auxier of BTM LLC, had been producing replicas of the Cheetah car under an agreement with Bill Thomas until Thomas’s…