The company is unable to upgrade the domain name to Approve.com via UDRP.
A World Intellectual Property Organization panelist has denied Approve Me, LLC’s attempt to obtain Approve.com through a cybersquatting complaint.
Approve Me, LLC offers electronic signature services through a WordPress plugin. It uses the domain name ApproveMe.com to market its plugin.
Tipalti acquired Approve.com through a corporate acquisition and now uses it for its procurement workflow tool.
Approve Me argues that companies offer similar solutions. Although this is hard to see on their respective websites, this is clearly not a case of cybersquatting under UDRP. If anything, it’s a trademark dispute. Panelist Christopher Gibson notes this in his decision:
The Panel determines that, aside from its finding of no bad faith registration of the domain name, these issues do involve alleged infringement of Plaintiff’s trademarks and the relevance of Respondent’s rights in its own trademarks and , as such, would be best resolved in court. , where a complete filing and detailed arguments under United States Federal Trademark Law may be considered.
It should be noted that Tiplati has a US trademark for Approve.com.
Gibson does not appear to have considered whether this was a case of reverse domain name hijacking.
Solace Law represented the Complainant. Antoinette M. Tease, PLLC represented the owner of the domain name.
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