A health insurance company in the United States recently attempted to reverse hijack a domain name, but a UDRP panelist ruled against them in favor of the domain’s registrant, who is based in Italy and has yet to utilize the domain. Centene Corporation, operating under the Fidelis Care brand, filed a dispute over the domain fidelisinsurancecompany.com, which was registered earlier this year and does not currently resolve to an active website.
Despite the registrant not responding to the dispute, panelist Alan L. Limbury determined that Centene failed to prove the domain was registered and used in bad faith. Limbury pointed out that the term fidelis, meaning "faithful" in Latin, is commonly used by various entities across multiple industries, as reflected in the USPTO database. This includes trademarks related to charitable services, dietary supplements, and even musical instruments.
Limbury concluded that there are several legitimate uses for the domain that do not infringe on Centene’s rights, emphasizing that the addition of descriptive terms like "insurance company" does not limit potential applications of the domain. Furthermore, he noted that Centene did not provide evidence of its trademarks being recognized outside the United States.
In his ruling, Limbury highlighted that Centene must have been cognizant of the plain dictionary nature of the word "fidelis" and its various uses as he acknowledged their failure to substantiate claims regarding the notoriety of their marks. Additionally, there was insufficient evidence indicating the Italian registrant was aware of Centene’s trademarks at the time of registration.
This ruling underscored the difficulties corporations face when attempting to secure domain names that are derivative of generic words, particularly when the registrant is not found to have malicious intent. Legal representation for Centene was provided by Armstrong Teasdale LLP.
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