Instagram has reclaimed four domain names following a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center ruling.
The disputed domain names, instagify.com, instagramapi.com, instagy.com and onlineinstagram.com, were transferred to Instagram following a decision earlier this month.
Sole panellist Clive Duncan Thorne found that the domains were confusingly similar to Instagram’s for its own name and ‘Insta’.
Thomas found that the registrants were diverting users that sought Instagram to their own sites, offering “essentially the same services offered by [Instagram] on its website instagram.com”.
He said that the registrants “offer and have offered directly competing web services that rely wholly on the [Instagram]’s own services through the use of the disputed domain names.”
“The fact that the respondents have registered four domain names which incorporate [Instagram]’s marks and offer or have offered online Instagram web viewers is itself evidence of a pattern of bad faith conduct.”
The domains were transferred to Instagram, but instagify.com and instagy.com currently resolve to identical “Instagram online web viewer” sites under the different names, imgleak.com and imgwonders.com.
[Source:-IP pro]
