A recent ruling by a UDRP panel has concluded that Finsure, an insurance brokerage firm in the U.S., attempted to engage in reverse domain name hijacking for the domain finsure.com. The panel found that Finsure’s claims against domain investor Mira Holdings were unfounded.
Finsure had claimed that Mira Holdings registered the domain in bad faith shortly after its trademark application for the term "FINSURE" was published. They argued that because Mira Holdings demanded $60,000 for the domain, it constituted cybersquatting. However, the three-member panel, headed by Kathryn Lee, determined that Mira Holdings had acquired the domain legitimately through a public auction on NameJet.com. The auction’s timing indicated that the registration wasn’t opportunistic concerning Finsure’s trademark application.
Mira Holdings stated that the combination of "finance" and "insurance" was a common term utilized by multiple companies globally long before Finsure’s trademark application. Furthermore, the panel noted that Finsure’s trademark registration wasn’t finalized until January 2025, two years after Mira Holdings had purchased the domain for $9,750. Finsure only initiated commercial use of its mark six months post this acquisition.
The panel also highlighted that Finsure’s offer to purchase the domain for up to $50,000 underscored their awareness that proving bad faith in a UDRP proceeding would be difficult. The proceedings were deemed to be initiated only after their negotiation efforts failed. The panel characterized such actions as a part of "Plan B" reverse domain name hijacking cases.
Currently, Finsure is utilizing the domain finsure.one, while Mira Holdings has previously won other rulings in favor of domain ownership against attempts of reverse hijacking.
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