Prominent Lawyer Names Lack Independent Commercial Use Needed for UDRP Protection

• Case Summary:
  A trio of WIPO rulings dismiss complaints filed by prominent attorneys at a large law firm involving domain names including their full personal names.
• Key Takeaway:
  Personal names can be protected under the UDRP, but they must have independent commercial value.

Leading attorneys at Proskauer Rose LLP failed to establish that they promoted their personal names independently of the firm in a manner that would have brought the names within the purview of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, an administrative panel at the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center decided June 30 in a trio of nearly ...