Liverpool FC loses cybersquatting domain dispute

Liverpool FC lost a case it filed at Czech Arbitration Court.

Winning on the field, but not off. Image from BigStock.

Liverpool Football Club has lost a cybersquatting dispute it brought against the domain name name LiverpoolFCTickets .com.

The football team filed the cybersquatting dispute with Czech Arbitration Court, one of the groups that decides cases under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).

The result is somewhat surprising.

Panelist Victoria McEvedy seemed to rely on a carveout in UDRP that allows companies to use trademarks in their names if they provide products or services related to the brand. For example, a company that services Ford cars could use the Ford trademark in its name in certain circumstances.

Here, there’s no evidence that the registrant is using the domain to legitimately resell Liverpool FC tickets. The domain resolves to a parked page that has shown ad links for terms like Liverpool Tickets and Watch Live Soccer.

Typically, a panelist wouldn’t consider this fair use. But McEvedy said the domain could be used for a legitimate use:

Here we have no [ticket] resales that we know of but the disputed domain name is capable of legitimate use.

The domain owner didn’t respond to the dispute, and many panelists would demand that the registrant provide evidence of their plans for using the domain.

McEvedy indicated that the 25-year-old domain was acquired by the current registrant on December 12, 2024. I’m unsure what information led to the conclusion that the domain recently changed hands. Perhaps Liverpool FC stated it, but I can’t find anything in historical Whois records to suggest this.

On this note, the panelist states:

It strikes the Panel that the Complainant wants the disputed domain name but does not want to pay for it. As there has been a change of ownership, it seeks to use that to now obtain it for free. The Complainant’s conduct looks opportunistic. The domain name system was and is a first come, first served system and in a sense the disputed domain name has an inherent value and/or an investment value.

This is a dispute that I could easily see being decided in Liverpool FC’s favor. What do you think?